Nobody Else
by At My Most Beautiful
Summary: What happened, and can it be fixed? Haley and Nathan are still living their lives in a manner dictated by a traumatic event that happened after Haley's first tour five years earlier. Naley.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey – so I've just got into One Tree Hill fanfiction, and had to start something of my own. This breaks off from canon somewhere around the end of the second season, and is about six years later, so think they're about 23._

_Completely Naley._

_Hope you like it – if you do, let me know, because I'm not entirely certain whether I'll be continuing._

* * *

Haley looked around her, her mouth quirking with amusement as she did so. Another hotel room, exactly the same as the last. And nothing like where she wanted to be. A sense of light, and colour, and love, flooded through her, and she shook her head, confused.

Where had that come from?

She trudged toward the bed dominating the room, heaving the heavy bag over her shoulder and onto the soft duvet. As she did so, a muffled sound began to emit from the soft handbag still over her shoulder, and she pulled it off and began to rummage through it. Rooting aside her book and wallet, she found the phone, quickly flicked it open.

"Luke!"

"Haley!" was the slightly sarcastic reply.

Haley laughed. "So, yes, I have been avoiding you a little! But I didn't need to answer the phone if I didn't want to, you know."

"That's true. So, how are you?"

Luke sounded unduly serious, as if he was expecting some kind of breakdown.

Haley's brow wrinkled. "I'm not exactly certain what you mean by that tone, Luke. I'm as fine as I have been any time in the last few months."

"So you don't remember what day this is?"

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* * *

"Haley! Haley!"

A sound pierced her daze, and Haley jumped.

"Chris! Don't do that to me. I'm not in the mood."

"Oooh – a snappish Haley. How unusual." Chris's eyebrow lifted. "So, what's the problem, babe?"

Haley made a face. "Don't call me that. You know I hate it when you call me that."

Chris laughed. "Sorry, Haley. But you know that's why I do it, right, babe?"

"Yeah, well, stop."

Chris frowned, concern showing in his usually mischievous eyes. "No, really, Haley, what's wrong? Something's definitely bugging you, and it took about three minutes for you to notice I was calling your name. Has something happened? Your family ok?"

Haley nodded, smiling a reassuring smile at her friend. "Yeah, there's nothing wrong. It's just –"

Her voice cracked, and her smile wavered. She suddenly turned solemn, and seemed to shrink in front of Chris's eyes. As she reached out blindly, he pulled her to him, hugging her close as she buried her face in his chest.

"It's just what, Haley? What's wrong?" He stroked her back, petting his best friend, letting her know he wasn't going to let her go.

"It's been five years, Chris."

Chris's head shot up, and his eyes narrowed.

He was finally going to kill Nathan Scott.

* * *

_So – read, review. Let me know what you think is going on, and whether you think I should continue with this._


	2. Chapter 2

_So-I've decided to continue for a while, at least. This is thesecond chapter, in which Nathan is introduced._

_

* * *

_

The ball pounded against the backboard of the basketball hoop in a driving rhythm as a tall, dark haired man aimed and shot repeatedly. Intensely focused, he was alone in a darkened stadium.

Only an hour earlier, Nathan Scot had been smiling and cocky, playing his usual perfect game for the Lakers in his second season since finishing college and being drafted to the NBA. The cameras loved him, and he them.

Now he was all but alone in a stadium littered with popcorn boxes, spilt soda, and half eaten hot dogs. He could vaguely hear the sound of cleaners chatting as they efficiently cleaned out the worst of the mess: the remnants of the sizable body of people there to see him, his teammates, and the opposing team play.

Nobody had been surprised that the Lakers had won. Nor had they been surprised that Nathan Scott, the new leading scorer, had been central to this victory. Arrogant, self-assured, and well known for his exploits both on and off the court, Nathan Scott was soon becoming a living legend among basketball fans. Seen playing as if his life depended on it thoughout the basketball season, he was also frequently pictured on the pages of tabloids, out with this starlet or that socialite.

No singers, though.

Nobody, however, could have expected to see him here, alone, shooting and scoring as if there were nothing else in the world, as if he wanted to think of nothing else, as if he wanted to forget.

The lights shut off completely as the cheerful voices of the cleaners faded off into the distance.

The pounding continued.

Five.

Years.

Five.

Years.

Five.

Years.

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* * *

Lucas Scott sat at the bar, waiting for his little brother. A triple shot of scotch sat by his elbow as he sipped on a soda.

The team was in training, and there was no way coach would do anything but ream him out completely if he didn't stay completely sober. Nathan, on the other hand – Lucas's gaze moved from his hands grasping his drink to the untouched shot next to him – Nathan would definitely be ignoring it tonight.

Lucas could still hear the conversation he'd had with Haley two hours ago ringing in his ears.

"_So you don't remember what day this is?" Lucas had asked._

_There had been a pause. And then Lucas had heard an indrawn breath, a slight shudder. And silence._

"_Haley?"_

_The pause continued. Awkwardly. And then Haley had spoken._

"_I don't want to talk anymore."_

_There had been a soft click, and then the dial tone sounded loud in Lucas's ear._

Lucas hadn't called back.

He shouldn't have called in the first place. Maybe if he hadn't, she wouldn't have remembered.

Of course, she would never have forgiven herself, if she'd forgotten that day.

Lucas shut his eyes, briefly leaning his head on his forearms as if to shut out the world.

That day. This day. All days since that day, five years earlier. It had shattered Haley's world. And Nathan's.

And nothing had ever been, could ever be, the same.

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* * *

Five.

Years.

Five.

Years.

Five.

Years.

The ball fell to the ground, dropped by fingers suddenly slack, suddenly nerveless.

Silence.

And Nathan Scott turned away. He buried his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. He walked to the edge of the court, hefted a bag over his shoulder, and left.

There was no turning back.

* * *

_The next chapter may be helpful: there will be a bit of an explanation for what is going on._

_Remember to read and review: I need comments!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay . . . well, it seems as if there actually are some people enjoying this story, which is great. I like it when people like my stuff. So I'll keep writing._

_Thank you to my reviewers – krizue, Duckygirl, Nataliegirl1214, Valencia Charmaine, boombaibe, lilmonkeygirl31, NaLeYBaBiixo. I really appreciate your comments, please keep them coming. The next three or four chapters (which are already mapped out), should answer your questions about what, exactly, happened._

* * *

**About Six and a Half Years Earlier**

"I'm not lying, Nathan! I came back for you! I love you! I don't want to be anywhere else, with anybody else. Nobody else, Nathan. Nobody but you. Not ever."

"I don't believe you, Haley." Nathan turned, and his blue, blue eyes were clear, and calm, and focused.

"I won't believe you."

Haley's eyes closed, her head reared back. "Please, Nathan. Please believe me. Please let me come home."

Nathan's gaze was firm, unemotional.

"No."

And he turned, beginning to walk away.

"Nathan – " there was desperation in that voice, once so beloved. "Nathan! I have nowhere to go! You are home to me!"

Nathan paused, and turned back to face his distraught wife. His face was sardonic, pitiless.

"Nowhere, huh? Why not go to the man you love, Haley. Because you obviously never loved me, not with that baby in your belly." His gaze slipped to the burgeoning waistline half hidden by the clever cut of her top.

Haley's eyes widened.

"Baby? Your baby, Nathan!"

Nathan's head shook slowly, definitely. "Not my baby, Haley. Not mine, not when you haven't told me. Not when you haven't spoken to me or touched me in five and a half months. Not when Chris Keller admits on live television that he's in love with you. Not when every time you and I have made love - " he paused " – had sex, we used protection."

"Not mine, Haley."

He turned away again, finality in every line of his body.

"Don't come back, Haley."

A sob ripped through her body, and she sank to the ground, her legs unable to support her, her hands resting on the slight swell of her abdomen.

And he was gone.

* * *

"I told you he was a dick, baby."

Haley glared at Chris.

"I told you to stop calling me that. And, for that matter, stop calling him that, too. Nathan is not a dick."

"No?"

Haley's voice wobbled. "Well, no, not really. He's just stupid, and he doesn't trust me, and he doesn't love me anymore."

"Exactly. A dick."

Haley looked up from her contemplation of her hands, resting on her swollen belly. She gave a faint smile.

"Thank you, Chris."

"What for?"

"For being there. For being here. For understanding."

Chris's eyes softened. "Look, babe, this is my fault too, you know? If I hadn't admitted in that interview – "

Haley's voice hardened. "It was a joke, Chris, and Nathan should've understood that."

Chris shook his head. "It wasn't a joke, Haley. And Nathan knew that, even if you didn't."

Haley's gaze was shocked. "You're in love with me?"

Chris smiled wryly.

"Who isn't?"

At that, Haley started sobbing. Chris leapt from his seat and enfolded her in his arms, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Oh, babe, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything - "

"I like you, Chris, but that's as far as it goes. That's as far as it'll ever go. And if Nathan couldn't trust me enough to understand that, to understand that I would never lie to him, that I would never betray him, then it doesn't matter how much I love him. Because now _I_ can't trust _him_."

She looked up at Chris, determination on her face and in her eyes.

"That's it, Chris. I can't take this any more. My baby can't take this any more. We'll be fine on our own."

Chris nodded, decisively.

"No problem, baby. Who needs Nathan Scott, after all?"

* * *

**Three Months Later**

Haley lay in her hospital bed, exhausted. The labour had been long, and hard, and now she had a baby daughter to think about.

A daughter she had yet to name.

And a husband she had yet to inform that he was a father.

Her cell phone clutched in her hand, her gaze on the daughter lying in a bassinet next to her bed, face still red and wrinkled, and so tiny, Haley sat.

Her fingers found the number by touch, and the phone began to ring.

And ring.

"Hey, this is Nathan. I don't listen to messages, but if it's really important, I might hit you back."

Haley sighed as the beep sounded.

"Um. Nathan. Just to let you know, my baby – our baby – was born today. She's perfect, and you should meet her. Please come, Nathan. We need to talk."

Haley hung up, and waited.

And waited.

He never came.

* * *

_So the story is starting to emerge. Anybody have any ideas as to what is going to happen?_

_Please read and review – I really appreciate any comments._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks to all of you for your comments: I hope you continue to enjoy the story – I'm really getting into writing it, at least._

_Thank you to hybridwolf10, Valencia Charmaine, lilmonkeygirl31, naley-obssesshunz-xOx, and xSmile for your comments. NaLeYBaBiixo and Nataliegirl1214 – let's see if your guesses about what is going to happen will survive this chapter. Things are starting to get interesting._

_This chapter may seem a little out of the blue, but will make sense later. So let me know what you think._

_

* * *

_

**Present Day**

"I hope you're ready for school, Sarah." The passionless voice sounded from right outside her room, and the small, auburn-haired, blue-eyed girl within jumped.

"Yes, Daddy. Of course, Daddy," Sarah said hurriedly, as she picked up her backpack and walked to the door. Opening it, she found her father, a tall, thin man with very pale grey eyes. He was just standing there.

"Good girl. Time to go, then."

And with that, he gripped her arm firmly, ushering her ahead of him through the house. She tried to jerk her arm away, but he just kept hold, ignoring her movement, as they made their way to the garage, where she was soon seated in the rear of the car as her father buckled his seat belt.

"How is first grade going, Sarah?"

"It's good, Daddy. I've made some nice friends since kindergarten."

Her father frowned.

"I hope you're not spending time with unsuitable children, Sarah. You know I would be very displeased."

"Yes, Daddy."

He continued.

"I will pick you up after school. Do not be late."

"No, Daddy."

The rest of the trip continued in silence.

* * *

Sarah sighed as she walked to class. She didn't understand why her father hated her, why he didn't want her to enjoy school like all her classmates.

She didn't understand why she didn't have a mother.

As she walked along the corridor to her homeroom, Sarah looked about her, her blue, blue eyes wide open and filled with longing. She saw laughter, and talking, and fun.

And she was not a part of it. She would never be a part of it.

Sarah thought of the 'nice friends' she had mentioned to her father earlier that morning, and shrugged her shoulders. It had been worth a try. If he hadn't objected to that mention, it might have been worth making a friend or two.

Sarah gripped the straps of her backpack tighter, and let her gaze fall to the ground once more.

It was better not to think about what she didn't have.

But she really did want a mother.

She wanted someone who would love her, and talk to her, and who didn't care if she couldn't spell the words right, and didn't know that the capital of the Russian Federation was Moscow. She wanted someone to play with her hair, and dress her in pretty clothes. She wanted someone who knew what her favourite meal was, and wouldn't use it against her.

She wanted the same life as everyone else.

Reaching the door of her classroom, Sarah reached out and turned the door handle.

Another day of school. Just the same as the last.

And nobody was going to save her.

* * *

Miss Jacobs looked at Sarah Knight in concern as the girl sat silently at her desk, reading a book while the rest of the class laughed and talked amongst each other as they waited for the bell to ring. She didn't understand what was wrong with the child. She was always so silent, so withdrawn, so unapproachable. Miss Jacobs had tried talking to Sarah's father about it, but it seemed as if he was probably the problem. His expectations were that his daughter would excel in academics, and otherwise not be involved. He seemed to think that any friends Sarah might make were a bad influence.

Miss Jacobs couldn't understand it. There was something very strange about that family. It was just so sad. And Sarah was such a pretty child.

Actually, it was odd. Sarah somehow reminded Miss Jacobs of somebody, but she couldn't think who.

And she was almost certain that she should try to remember.

Whatever the fleeting connection was, it seemed like it could be important.

The bell rang, and Miss Jacobs watched Sarah find her bookmark, place it carefully in place, shut the book, and slide it into the backpack sitting by her feet.

Turning to face Miss Jacobs, Sarah looked directly at her, and gave a shy smile.

Miss Jacobs gasped.

* * *

_Please review._


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed: jenniea, lilmonkeygirl31, NaleyBop, xSmile, krizue, spikesilla, Valencia Charmaine, angel.devil.me, bluchampaegne, Nataliegirl1214, NaLeYBaBiixo, and hybridwolf10. I really appreciate your comments, and I'm sorry about all the suspense!_

_If it helps, the mystery is starting to emerge, and this chapter should clear up a few things._

_I hope you enjoy._

_

* * *

_

Haley's phone started ringing. She frowned and dug it out, squinting at it, trying to decipher the number. It wasn't one she recognised, but, unlike some of her friends', her number had never been widely disseminated.

"Hello?"

"Haley James?"

"Who is this?"

"I apologise, Ms James. This is Agent Streiker from the FBI. We may have some information about your daughter."

* * *

**Five years earlier: November 27, 2006**

Haley buckled Faith into her stroller, carefully covering her with the soft woollen blanket, and sliding the hat onto her small head.

Faith giggled, pushing at the blanket.

"No, baby. You need to keep warm. Mommy and Faith are going for a walk!"

Faith's eyes lit up.

As Haley meandered along the busy New York street with Faith in her stroller, she smiled, her face clear and her eyes bright.

It had taken more than a year, but it looked as if everything was going to work out. She had stopped touring after the confrontation with Nathan in the sixth month of her pregnancy, but Chris had helped her find a job as an assistant with Michelle Branch's record label. He had also promised that in a year or two, when things were more settled, they'd meet up again and start touring.

And Haley was ready. More than ready, in fact. If she couldn't have Nathan, she needed the music.

And Faith. She couldn't survive without Faith.

Alone in her hospital room fourteen months earlier, day fading into night, Haley had come to a decision.

She loved Nathan. She would always love Nathan, no matter how much of an idiot he actually was. But it was time to let him go. She'd told him about his daughter, she'd asked him to be a part of her life, even if he couldn't be part of Haley's. And he had clearly decided not to be.

So she would raise her daughter on her own, and she would do it in the only way she knew how: with lots of love, and understanding, and compassion, and truth. And that would have to be enough.

She would make it be enough.

And now, Faith was fourteen months old, and the most beautiful child Haley had ever seen. In fact, she looked very like her mother, but it was her eyes that Haley could not get over. They were a deep, intense blue.

The blue of her father's eyes.

Haley's attention was caught by a shop across the road – a new children's clothing store. She looked down at her daughter.

"What do you say, babe? Should we take a little shopping diversion?"

Faith gurgled and smiled up at her mother.

"I thought you might say that."

And with that, Haley swung around to the nearest pedestrian crossing, heading over to the shop.

It was great, with the cutest little outfits and the most adorable shoes, and Faith and Haley were having a blast choosing the perfect rock star outfits for Faith to wear on the tour Haley had agreed to go on with Chris. It was due to start in a month, and Haley had arranged for Taylor to come with her. They weren't close, even now, but Taylor had agreed to help out with Faith, who adored her aunt, in exchange for the coolness of, as Taylor phrased it, 'travelling with the band'.

Turning to the check-out, Haley smiled at the sales assistant and placed her purchases on the counter. Signing her name to the credit print-out, she smiled.

"Thank you!"

Haley turned and reached for the handle of Faith's stroller, only to grasp thin air.

* * *

**Present Time (November 27, 2011)**

They had never found Faith.

The search had been public, and wide-ranging, but there were no clues, and nobody who was in the store could remember seeing anything suspicious, or, indeed, anything at all. So after three months, most of the police working on the case had been pulled off, and reassigned to other, more solvable cases.

Haley had not gone on that tour, although, a year later, Chris had pulled her away to join him on another.

By then, her music had changed. It was still about love, and loss, and life, but it was so much deeper now. Haley had lost everything in the world that mattered to her, and she no longer cared enough to try to hide her feelings.

She had been an instant and long-standing success, winning Grammys, and American Music Awards, and being named one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People three years running.

Faith had remained lost.

And, after a while, it was as if she had never existed.

But Haley had never forgotten.

And nor had Nathan.

* * *

_I hope that helped to clear up a few things._

_Please Review._


	6. Chapter 6

_So – yeah. You probably have a reasonably good idea of what the problem was now, right?_

_I didn't update yesterday (the first time I haven't updated daily since I started, actually), and probably will not be doing so quite as regularly anymore. However, I will attempt to make the chapters longer to compensate._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed: krizue, jenniea, hybridwolf10, xSmile, spikesilla, NaLeYBaBiixo, DuCksRVeRykOoL, lilmonkeygirl31, 4everdreaming, HottScott23, and Nataliegirl1214. I'm rather glad I managed to keep you in suspense for as long as I did!_

_And now let's see Nathan's reaction to this new turn of events._

_

* * *

_

**November 27, 2011**

Nathan sat at the bar next to Lucas, his head buried in his arms, his hand resting around the empty shot glass.

"My fault."

Lucas shook his head. Every year this happened, and every year was worse than the one before. It was as if every November 27th were compressed into some downward spiral of hate and self-loathing and desperation.

Lucas was afraid that eventually Nathan would not be able to survive another.

"I love her." Nathan's voice was still muffled by his arms.

Lucas sighed. "I know."

"Do you think she does?" Nathan's eyes were blurry as he tilted his head to one side, surveying Lucas's indistinct features.

Lucas frowned. Haley spoke to him intermittently, but it was nothing like it had been before her pregnancy, before this entire mess screwed up all of their lives. If it hadn't been for the kidnapping, Lucas truly believed that Nathan would've caved, and, when he realised what a mistake he'd made, would've begged, and pleaded, and somehow convinced his wife to forgive him, if not to forget. Now, there was virtually no chance that it wasn't too late. Faith was gone.

But that wasn't what Nate needed to hear. So Lucas avoided the question.

"It wasn't your fault, man. You weren't even there."

Nathan's head tilted to the side, and he looked up at Lucas's blurry face.

"No. But I should have been."

* * *

**November 27, 2006**

Nathan looked over at Lucas as his phone rang.

"God, man! We're supposed to be studying here! Turn your phone off!"

Lucas laughed at his brother's aggravated expression.

"No problem. I'll just check who it is," he said, matching the act to the words. He frowned, and motioned outside. "Look, Nate, I think I'll have to, uh, take this."

Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Just hurry up, dude."

Nodding, Lucas headed out. Nathan waiting, fiddling with his pen, wondering what was so urgent. For some reason, he was nervous. Soft voices filtered out from the hallway where Lucas was talking, and Nathan began to sit up, alert, as he heard the tone of his brother's voice. He was getting louder and louder, and seemed almost frantic.

There was a crash, and Lucas came back into his room minus his cell phone.

"Hey – what's up?" Nathan asked, glancing past his brother to see Lucas's cell phone lying in the floor of the hall. It had clearly been hurled at the wall, and was now lying in several pieces. "I don't think that can be fixed. What are you doing throwing your phone around?"

Lucas nodded, clearly not even hearing what Nathan was saying. Instead, he advanced on his brother, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him from the room.

"We have somewhere to go."

* * *

"Why did you bring him? What is he doing here?"

"Haley – "

"Go home! Go home! You didn't want her then, you can't have her now!"

Lucas stepped towards Haley, arms outstretched. She fell into them. "She's gone, Lucas! My baby . ."

Nathan stood, silent, shell-shocked, as his estranged wife sobbed her heart out in his brother's arms, her tiny hands holding Lucas so tightly she would leave bruises in her wake. Nathan stepped forward, once, twice, and reached out to her.

He could almost feel the silky texture of her hair, a fraction of an inch below his outstretched hand. The smell of her, the need to touch her, to comfort her, was overwhelming.

Haley . . .

It had been so long.

And she was so sad.

Her child was gone.

Almost as if his thoughts had set her off, Haley wrenched herself from Luke's arms and spun around to face Nathan, knocking his hand away and making him back away from her angry figure.

"How could you?" She yelled. Her face was red, and wet with tears, and shiny. "How could you abandon us like that? Like a coward? And now she's gone and I don't know what I'll do if I can't get her back!"

"Haley – " Lucas interrupted.

"No, Luke. I don't want to hear it. I want to know what your brother thinks of himself now. Now that his daughter – the daughter he didn't want, the daughter he denied – is gone. Where were you, Nathan? What were you doing when your fourteen month old daughter was snatched by some madman?"

Nathan stood there, silent, as Haley's burning eyes bored directly into his. _His _child? Had it – had she – truly been his?

"I called her Faith, you know. Or, actually, I suppose you didn't. It was supposed to be symbolic. Because faith is what you have when you want to believe. When you want to trust, and you don't need a reason. I used to have faith in you."

Nathan stepped forward once more, closer to the five feet and three inches of anger embodied that stood in front of him, facing him down.

Faith had been his child. And now she was gone.

She eyed his movement, backed away.

"I'll never have faith again."

* * *

**November 27, 2011**

Lucas's phone started to ring, and, irritated, he turned away from Nate to check his caller i.d.

_James, Haley_

Lucas stepped away from the bar, flicking the phone open and patting his brother on the back simultaneously as he ducked into an alcove near the men's room.

"Haley?"

Silence.

"Haley."

"Lucas." Her voice was calm.

"They think they've found Faith."

* * *

_Awww – poor babies. No wonder they are so upset, right?_

_Keep reading – and please review._


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you for all your comments jenniea, JLsNaley, Nataliegirl1214, loppa, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, hybridwolf10, OTHlover04, lilmonkeygirl31, spikesilla, 4everdreaming, NaLeYBaBiixo, and xSmile. I really do appreciate your reviews – it's great to know what you think of my fic. So keep reviewing!_

_And now to see what has happened._

_

* * *

_

Sarah sat in the principal's office, her legs dangling from the high chair, quiet.

She didn't understand why she was there. She didn't think she'd done anything wrong. Miss Jacobs had just been about to start the class when she looked at Sarah and went suddenly pale. And then she'd left the class to look after themselves for a while, and come back with Mr Nicholas, who'd had a free period. Mr Nicholas took over the class, and Sarah was told to come with Miss Jacobs.

She'd come.

And now she was waiting in the empty office, her bag by her feet, listening to muffled voices emit from the office in front of her.

Sarah frowned, and reached down for her book.

Just then, Miss Jacobs came back out of the principal's office. Her face was flushed and slightly indignant, but she had a victorious air about her nonetheless. Behind her, the principal looked irritated, but it was difficult to tell whether that had anything to do with Miss Jacobs. He was on the phone, and clearly the person at the other end was not being helpful.

"No, I need to talk to somebody immediately – " Mr Anderson signalled at Miss Jacobs, and she shut the door behind her, cutting off the rest of the conversation.

Sarah looked up at Miss Jacobs, her hand still hovering above her bag, ready to retrieve her book.

"Come along, Sarah!" said Miss Jacobs in a perky voice. "Let's go to the staff room."

Sarah frowned again. Why wasn't she being taken back to class?

Miss Jacobs waited for Sarah to stand up and put on her backpack, and then she took the small girl by her hand. Sarah followed as her teacher led the way to the staff room, and sat, even as the teacher began rooting through the old magazines lying on the coffee tables. She seemed to be looking for something.

Sarah sat silently. She didn't understand what was happening.

Miss Jacobs seemed to find something. She came over to Sarah, carrying one of the magazines – _People _– and smiling at her nervously.

"You're a good girl, Sarah. A clever girl."

Sarah's brow wrinkled.

Miss Jacobs started flicking through the magazine. First slowly, then faster, then she stopped. She paused, her hand resting on the page, taking a big breath.

Miss Jacobs knelt down in front of her pupil, eying the picture, and then Sarah.

Then she stood up. She closed the magazine, and sat down next to Sarah.

"Sarah, is your father good to you?"

This was unexpected. Sarah nodded uncertainly.

"Do you know anything about your mother?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Has your father ever mentioned her?"

Sarah shook her head again. No.

"Okay." Miss Jacobs let out a heavy breath, and changed the subject. "Why don't you sit there and read your book, honey."

Sarah nodded.

"Yes, Miss Jacobs."

What was going on?

* * *

An hour later, there was a sudden burst of noise from the corridor, and Sarah looked up in interest as the door opened. A pretty brunette lady and a tall fair-haired man came in with Principal Anderson, who gestured for Miss Jacobs to come over and talk to them.

They went outside and closed the door. Sarah could see them through the glass panel in the door.

They were talking, and it seemed to be about something important. Miss Jacobs talked, and talked, and the others listened to her, seeming to ask questions that she answered without hesitation. The conversation continued, and then there was a pause. Miss Jacobs looked into the staffroom, and Sarah, still observing, smiled at her nervously. Miss Jacobs spoke again. She gestured at Sarah.

The others all turned to look at her.

The brunette lady gave a decisive nod, and said something to the blond.

The door opened.

* * *

Sarah had been taken to a doctor for some tests – nobody told her what they were for – and then to a strange place, with lots of other children. She had asked about her father, but was told that she wasn't going to be seeing him for a while.

She wasn't supposed to know what was going on, but she knew what that meant.

Daddy had done something bad, and now Sarah was all alone.

So now she sat, huddled, on the bed she had been shown to. It was in a room with two other single beds, the inhabitants of which were elsewhere. They had looked at Sarah, and giggled, and run off to play.

She'd wanted things to change, but really. This was just like school, only now she didn't have a Daddy, either.

Sarah drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

She was tired of not knowing what was going on.

And even Daddy was better than nobody. Sarah didn't like being alone.

"Sarah?"

Sarah looked up in surprise. She hadn't even noticed the door open.

A beautiful lady was standing in the doorway, staring at Sarah strangely. She had long auburn hair, and deep brown eyes, and a tentative smile, which wavered under Sarah's scrutiny.

The lady looked vaguely familiar, but Sarah wasn't certain why.

And she was staring at Sarah, the smile gone and a strange look in her eyes. Sarah stared back.

Something happened. Sarah didn't know what, but she could tell it was something big. Something life-altering.

The woman knew it, too. Tears started to stream down her face, silently, as she closed her eyes, her joy, and longing, and relief, very clear on her expressive features.

Her eyes opened again, and she gave a watery giggle to see Sarah's attention still fully focused on her.

Sarah was more confused than ever.

A tall, blond man with close-cropped hair barged suddenly into the room, slightly out of breath.

"Hales! You shouldn't have – "

The woman, a clear, wide smile sitting strangely on her face, turned to the man.

"It's Faith."

That was all she said, but her voice was clear, and firm, and certain. And the man was silent.

Confused, Sarah's gaze shot between the man and woman, only to find the attention of both fully fixed on her. She flushed, and the woman gave a choking sob. The man reached out to her, rubbing her shoulder, and she fell into his arms, knocking him slightly off-balance as he staggered, balancing the unexpected weight.

"Hales – " the man said, his voice husky. "How can you be so certain?"

Another voice sounded, loud and strangely out of place, from the doorway.

"Look at her, Luke."

Sarah looked away from the couple embracing, and her intense blue gaze locked with that of a tall, dark haired man standing just behind them.

He smiled at her reassuringly, and pushed past the man and woman to crouch down in front of her.

"Sarah? Do you know why you're here?"

* * *

_Next: a personal tragedy elicits a public response. The recovery of a kidnapped child, lost for five years, and recovered on the day she was taken._

_Also – a few more friends are introduced._


	8. Chapter 8

_Reaction and response to events will occur in this chapter._

_Thank you to my reviewers: lilmonkeygirl31, deli41321, krizue, Nataliegirl1214, loppa, xSmile, JlsNaley, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, hybridwolf10, NaLeYBaBiixo, chicaespanola, JeniRose, and OTHlover04._

_I hope you like the new chapter – it was fun to write and took a lot of effort to post, given that my newly downloaded virus protection software screwed my computer up so badly last night that it wouldn't actually turn on! Luckily, the company's help centre (definitely in India) was great, and I managed to fix everything. Of course, then my email wouldn't work because that company was having network issues! But everything's working right now, so I feel great!_

_Anyway, enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

Brooke Davis, eyes at half mast, hair a tumbled mess, and stunning regardless, stumbled off the plane from Paris to New York at 7 in the morning. After receiving a frantic call from Lucas Scott twelve hours earlier, she had decided to skip the day's fashion show and rush back to the States. As a fashion reviewer with Vogue, Brooke put her talents to the best possible use, in advising others of what was hot, and what was not.

And now here she was, half dead on her feet, and yet with a nervous energy and sense of anxious anticipation that was making her more awake by the second.

Looking around, getting her bearings, Brooke shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of any remaining malaise, rolled her back, stood for a couple of seconds, and then, with a purposeful stride, began to head for the exit.

Almost there, she stopped, backtracked. Looked to her side.

A display of daily papers and magazines elicited a wry smirk. She reached out and grabbed one, then another, and another, until she had more than half a dozen nestled in the crook of her arm. Smiling widely at the dazzled vendor, she handed over a twenty and walked off, heading for a taxi.

Snagging the last one from the rank, Brooke directed the driver to the Plaza Hotel, and sat back, fishing out the stack of reading material she'd just located.

_Songstress and Sportsman's Secret Sadness_

_Faith Returns: But to whom?_

_Bad Boy Scott and Good Girl James: Their Personal Tragedy_

_A Child Recovered_

_James Not Scott-Free_

_Faith James Scott? Her Father Says Yes!_

Brooke sighed, cocked her head to one side, and started reading as her taxi wound through the busy streets.

* * *

Peyton Sawyer Jagielski leaned into her husband's side, holding the hand of her stepdaughter, Jenny, tightly enough to make Jenny squeeze back. She knew how freaked out her mother got whenever she thought of what had happened to her Aunt Haley's kid.

Peyton loosed her hold a little, and looked down at Jenny with a smile and an apologetic air.

"I'm sorry, Jenny."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "It's alright, Mom. I understand."

Peyton squeezed her daughter's hand again, and turned to her husband.

"Jake, I don't understand why this is taking so long. Surely it's not that difficult to get urgent tickets to New York when we're at an _airport_. It's not like they don't have planes."

Speaking into his cell phone as his wife complained, Jake nodded, absently. A few seconds later, he hung up.

"Look, Luke says Haley's really broken up, but so excited, and so positive. He says it's probably best that we're delayed a little, though, because the red tape's stretching out about as far as even red tape can."

Peyton nodded. "That's good, I suppose." There was a pause. "But I'm just so worried about Haley, and there's no way we can do anything from Boston. Did Luke say how Nate was doing, too?"

Jake sighed. "You know Nate. He's not saying a lot. Although apparently what he has said is quite – um – forceful."

"And that means what, exactly?"

Jake rolled his eyes.

"Apparently there have been a few photographers hanging around. And once the FBI released the statement they grew, and the paparazzi arrived, and he got into, well, a bit of a confrontation."

"Meaning?"

Jake sighed again. "Look, hold on, okay?" He moved away from Peyton, getting her settled in a chair in the airport lobby as she looked at him quizzically.

"What are you doing?"

He smiled down at her before turning to walk away. "You'll see."

Peyton watched her husband as he walked across to a newsstand, clearly looking for something specific. Finding it, he grabbed it, and went to pay. Just as he got to the counter, he turned around and went back to the papers, and grabbed a few more.

Bringing them back, Jake set a stack on Peyton's knees.

She quirked an eyebrow at her husband, and looked down.

_**Faith James Scott? Her Father Says Yes!**_

_The dramatic return of the kidnapped daughter of celebrated singer / songwriter Haley James has resulted in something of a furore in New York as an estranged husband stakes his claim to the daughter he lost._

_At yesterday's press conference, the FBI acknowledged that Haley James' daughter, long known to have been kidnapped at age fourteen months before James' rise to fame, had been located, five years to the day after her kidnap from a children's clothing store in New York city._

"_We received a tip-off from her elementary school teacher," said Agent Streiker from the New York office. "She is a huge fan of Miss James', and was concerned that one of her students, about the same age as the daughter Miss James lost, had a very similar appearance. Knowing what she did about the girl's home life, upon noticing the pronounced resemblance, the teacher contacted the principal, who decided to call us."_

"_Upon investigation, we found that the girl's assumed father, David Knight, had never had a daughter, and had lived in the same area of New York as Miss James five years ago. We have since confirmed through DNA testing that the girl in question is, indeed, Faith James."_

_Or is she?_

_Although the tragedy of Faith's kidnapping led to a virtual blanketing upon all investigation into that period of Haley James' life, out of sympathy for her loss, since her return there has been a huge surge of interest, and it seems as if most of our questions have been answered._

_Previous behind-the-scenes speculation was that the father of James's child was long-time friend and supposed lover, Chris Keller. While Keller and James have been silent on this for several years, a statement released by Keller's people today indicates that, while he is "overjoyed" at Faith's return, and looks forward to seeing her again, and to seeing her mother, he has categorically denied being the father. According to Keller, "Haley and I have been friends and colleagues since for close to seven years, but it never got any further than that."_

_Apparently Keller was asked by James not to go with her to retrieve her daughter. Keller has indicated that James saw this event as a family matter, "and so she went with family – hers and Faith's."_

_But who is this family?_

_Recent research has uncovered an interesting, previously unknown, fact about Haley James. It appears that, in 2005, when James was sixteen, she gained permission from her parents to marry an emancipated minor. The name of this minor was Nathan Scott. There is no record of a divorce or annulment._

_It was therefore extremely interesting to see Haley James coming out of the New York State Orphanage where her daughter is currently being kept, pending the processing of her release into Miss James' custody, arm in arm with Lakers player Lucas Scott._

_Two steps behind was Nathan Scott, the Lakers' leading scorer and resident bad boy._

_The friendship between Miss James and Lucas Scott has been noted before, but until records of this 2005 marriage were unearthed yesterday, there was no indication that she and Nathan Scott were even aware who each other were, despite both being from the same small town, and her close relationship with his half brother._

_Haley James acknowledges the marriage, but her spokespeople state: "Miss James has not been in contact with Mr Scott for five years, and prior to that, contact was rare and intermittent for about two years. Faith is Faith James for a reason."_

_However, maybe this reason no longer exists. According to Nathan Scott, who later lashed out at members of the press in the lobby of his hotel after being approached for a quote, "get the hell away from Haley and my daughter!"._

_It seems the mystery is solved._

* * *

At opposite ends of the country, Peyton Sawyer Jagielski and Brooke Davis let out aggrieved huffs of air.

* * *

_So – next chapter will focus on Nathan and Haley, and how they're dealing with this situation, and with each other._

_Please Review!_


	9. Chapter 9

_And in this chapter we will actually have some Naley interaction. Bear in mind they have a traumatised child to deal with now, who was just taken away from everything she has ever known and basically told her entire life was a lie._

_Thank you to naley214, hybridwolf10, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, JeniRose, spikesilla, jenniea, NaLeYBaBiixo, and xSmile for reviewing._

* * *

Haley paced around the living room of her suite at the Plaza, her hands clasped and her attention fixed on the voice of the kindly looking middle aged man perched on the couch.

"Don't worry too much about it, Haley. There's a lot of red tape that needs to be dealt with, but that's my job, after all. And they all want to co-operate as much as possible. Obviously this is a very sensitive situation."

Haley smiled at Eli Rosenbaum, nodding. Normally her attorney would have very little to do with cases of this nature, but, being the capable and intelligent man he was, even the intricacies involved in recovering Faith from Social Services did not phase him. Faith would be home soon.

Wherever home was.

Haley did have an apartment in Los Angeles – a virtual requirement for someone in her business – but had spent very little time there. Ever since she lost Faith, Haley had avoided settling anywhere, or becoming too attached. Most of her time was spent on tour, or in the recording studio.

But now Faith was back, and Haley would need somewhere for her to be. It seems like Los Angeles was the only choice.

It was too bad that's where Nathan lived as well.

As if he had heard her thoughts, Eli moved to another topic. "Haley, you do realise what has happened with Nathan Scott, don't you?"

Haley frowned. Nathan had, oddly enough, decided to come with Lucas to see Faith, and although she had been ignoring him as much as possible, it was a difficult task. But, given that he had never either wanted or acknowledged his daughter when she was around previously, it was hard to see exactly what he thought he was doing.

"What's he done now, Eli?"

Her attorney shrugged. "Well, I assume we can deny it. Apparently he's claiming to be Faith's father and your husband. He got in some kind of altercation yesterday and blurted out some things to the paparazzi."

There was a strained silence.

"It might be a little difficult to deny that, Eli. Given that it's the truth."

* * *

Nathan was standing outside the door to Haley's suite when he heard raised voices. Pausing, his hand poised to knock, he was taken aback when the door suddenly swung open and a flushed and irate Haley, clad in a cream brocade dressing gown and fluffy slippers, burst into the hall.

Catching sight of him, she turned immediately, facing him down.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Nathan blinked. "Um. . . I think we should talk?"

Haley nodded, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, I absolutely agree, Natey. Although maybe – " her voice rose and hardened. "Maybe it would've been more appropriate to do so _before_ splashing our personal lives in front of the entire world. What gives you the right to claim Faith? Or me, for that matter?"

Nathan knew he deserved that. Still, he wondered if she would've ever actually bothered talking to him if he hadn't precipitated the event.

"Look, Haley, I shouldn't have done that."

"No, Nathan, you really shouldn't have. You are not Faith's father, and you are definitely not my husband in any sense other than the legal."

Nathan nodded. "You are right about our marriage, I suppose. But I am Faith's father, Haley. Will you let me be her father now?"

Something flared in the depths of Haley's eyes – maybe pain, maybe joy, maybe fear. Nathan didn't know, but whatever it was, it was strong, and it clearly scared Haley.

"You never wanted to be her father before, Nathan. Why should I let you now, just because you've suddenly decided I wasn't lying?"

Nathan turned away from Haley and the accusation in her voice, passing his hand over his tired face. Turning back, he squared his shoulders and looked directly into her clear, and hostile, eyes.

"Haley, I was wrong to treat you the way I did. To treat Faith the way I did. She is my daughter. I knew that when I saw you five years ago, and I have regretted my actions for every single second of those five years. There has not been a day that I have not blamed myself for what happened to her, and to you. And I have missed you – both of you – more than you will ever know. I just hope you can both forgive me eventually."

Nathan's voice was firm, and calm.

Hayley tilted her head to the side as she studied her husband. He seemed sincere, but it didn't matter.

"You know what, Nathan? Thank you for your apology. But you're almost seven years too late."

Nathan nodded in acknowledgement of Haley's words. "Too late for us? Yeah, you're probably right about that, Haley." Haley was confused by the blankness of Nathan's expression as he said this. Surely she didn't matter to him any more, not with all the fame, and the beautiful women he was always 'dating'.

"But it's not too late for Faith. She is my daughter, Haley. Let me be her father. She'll need both of us now."

Haley shook her head, determination on her face. "She needs _me_, Nathan. I want you to go away. Let us be. I can't have my life ruined by you again. And I won't allow you to ruin Faith's."

Nathan turned away. "That's a pity, Haley. Because I'm not going anywhere."

_Not this time._

_

* * *

_

Nathan knew what he had done was unforgivable. He had abandoned his child. He had not believed his wife, the only woman he had ever loved – and, he was pretty certain, the only woman he ever would love.

And because of that he was fully prepared to face his life without Haley. Because she would be better off with someone else. Someone who she could trust and who would trust her. Someone who wouldn't leap to ridiculous conclusions about a woman who would no more cheat or lie than she would take him back.

Even if that person was Chris Keller.

In his pocket, Nathan's cell phone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and flipped it open. "Yeah?"

"Nathan?"

"Chris."

"She's so happy, Nathan. Don't ruin it for her. You asked me to look after her. You asked me to let you know if she ever needed anything. Well, I'm telling you now. She needs Faith. And you need to let her be."

"Why – so you can take over? So you can play Daddy? I asked you to help her because she wouldn't have let me do it. Don't pretend we're friends now, Chris."

There was a silence over the phone. "Just let her be happy, Nathan. Let it go."

Nathan flipped the phone closed again, sliding it back into his pocket.

"I can't do that."

* * *

_Please Review._

_Next chapter: Faith / Sarah, and legal manoeuvres._


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you to my reviewers xSmile, JeniRose, krizue, loppa, naley214, Duckygirl, Natlaiegirl1214, hybridwolf10, NaleyBop, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, NaLeYBaBiixo, and SnowWhite213._

_SnowWhite213 and xSmile: I am trying to write longer chapters, actually – I like them to be reasonably meaty as well. So hopefully that'll get better as I get further into the story, although they'll probably never be **long **long. I hope you appreciate it!_

_NaleyBop – thanks for letting me know which parts you liked. Those ones were pretty sad!_

_And to all those of you concerned about Chris, and the Naley factor, this chapter should help a little!_

_And now this story is starting to pick up momentum. Maybe Nathan hasn't been with her, but he's made sure someone is. Maybe he didn't acknowledge his child, but he wants her now. And as far as Haley's concerned, it's just too late._

_Does anybody else here wonder what Faith thinks?_

_

* * *

_

Sarah / Faith was no longer confused. Sarah / Faith understood exactly what had happened to her, and why she was here.

Apparently, she had been kidnapped. Sarah / Faith had thought that sort of thing only ever happened to other people, but apparently she'd been wrong. Because it had happened to her.

So now her daddy was in jail (Sarah / Faith wasn't actually too upset about that), and her new parents – her real parents – were waiting to take her home. Only, apparently there was something strange happening with that.

The beautiful lady who had come to visit her two days ago (and every day since) was apparently her mother. Her name was Haley James, and apparently she was a singer, and people knew her. And the tall, dark haired man who had explained things to her while the lady cried into her friend's arms (apparently that was Uncle Luke) was her father. His name was Nathan Scott, and he played basketball.

And they both wanted her. Sarah / Faith had never been wanted so much before in her entire life, as far as she could remember.

Sarah / Faith smiled at the door, thinking of her last visit, the one from just her daddy, where he explained who he was and told her how much he loved her and how much he had wanted her back.

Apparently, when she was little, before she had been taken from her mother, he hadn't been around, and that had just made him miss Sarah / Faith more. Because he hadn't known her at all.

Sarah / Faith was looking forward to living with her real parents. Everything would be different now.

* * *

Haley held the cell phone to her ear with one hand, her other arm flailing about for emphasis as she ranted.

"He spoke to the paparazzi, Chris! He told them he was my husband, and that Faith was his! His! As if he ever had a place in her life! And, worst of all, he told _her_!"

Chris sighed. "I know, babe. He shouldn't have done that."

"He shouldn't have done that? You're darn right he shouldn't have done that. He's never getting anywhere near Faith now, not that I was ever going to let him. I spoke to Eli, and he figures that the abandonment is enough for me to get full custody if he tries to push it. But I doubt that he will. It's just a whim, getting involved with Faith. I don't believe for a second that he's serious about it."

"I'm not so certain, Haley." Chris said.

"What?"

"Well – I don't know, really, but we are talking about Nathan here – " Chris attempted.

"Exactly!"

"- and Nathan did love you." Chris took advantage of the shocked silence. "Look, I never told you, but he asked me to let him know if you ever needed anything. You know, after Faith was taken? He felt responsible, I think."

Haley's voice was steely. "You have been in touch with Nathan for five years, and never told me?"

Chris's attempt to explain came across to Haley, loud and clear. "Look, babe, it wasn't like you wanted to talk to him. And he didn't want to push you. And he asked me for help. I mean, I don't like him, and I hate what he did to you, but he was trying to make things better for you. Besides, it's not like I've actually _'been in touch'_, as such. Just, you know, now and then. When he would call me."

At the other end of the phone line, Chris winced. That hadn't exactly come out the way he had intended. He was pretty certain Haley would be at least a little pissed now.

"That's ridiculous, Chris. He hated you. He blamed you for everything."

Chris's nod, unseen by Haley, acknowledged the remark. "Yeah, but he always loved you."

Haley was silent.

"Haley?"

"Don't call me, Chris. I just can't deal with you right now."

* * *

"You had no right to tell her, Nathan!"

Nathan quirked his eyebrow at his wife. "No right, Haley? I realise you don't want it to be true, but I am her father, and I have many rights."

"You abandoned her, Nathan. My lawyer informs me that in itself that virtually severs any parental rights you may have had at one point."

Nathan nodded. "True. But apparently my change of heart since, and my willingness to step forward and support her now – as well as an explanation of why I did not acknowledge her initially – will count in front of a judge."

Fear leapt to Haley's eyes, and she gasped. "You wouldn't! You can't just do this sort of thing, Nathan! You're trying to take Faith away from me – and ruin my reputation as you do it!"

"I wouldn't need to try, Haley, if you just allowed me to be a part of her life."

His eyes softened.

"Look, Haley, I understand how you feel, and I know there's nothing I can do to convince you how sorry I am, but please, don't take Faith away from me now! For the past five years I have blamed myself for what happened. I've tried to forget, and sometimes succeeded, but it was always there, and I just need to make it right."

"You want to be a father, Nathan? Convince me you really mean it. Do it now. Because I'm not letting you anywhere near my daughter unless I know you won't hurt her. She's been hurt enough. And you know it."

Haley stared at Nathan defiantly.

He took a deep breath.

"Haley, I know I hurt you, and I know I don't deserve a second chance, but I'm begging you to give me one. I'll do anything."

His voice cracked.

"I just don't know how to convince you! I don't want to hurt you, Haley, but I can't let Faith go. Not when she's been missing for so long, not when she needs me – needs us! I won't be my father, Haley. I won't be the man who revels in his child's successes and ridicules their failures. I don't ever want to be the man who won't acknowledge his own child, and I hate the fact that, for fourteen months, I _was_. I will not abandon Faith, not now and not ever again. I will not be Dan. I promise you, Haley. Please believe me."

_I can't let Faith go when she's all I have left of you._

Haley looked at Nathan, an arrested expression in her eyes.

"Dan . . . I never thought of it like that."

"No?" Nathan queried. "Well, I did. And I need to know that I am not like him, Haley. I need to be better. I need to be able to do whatever I can for my child."

Haley stared at Nathan in silence, a considering expression on her face.

She remembered how it used to be, before Chris, before the music. Before Faith. She had trusted Nathan. She had _loved _Nathan.

And yes, he had betrayed that trust, and that love, and she would never be able to forget that, but maybe he had had some cause. She had loved him, but she hadn't been as strong as she should've been. She hadn't fought as much as she could've done.

He had been cruel to her, but he loved his friends, and his brother – now, at least – and maybe he could love Faith.

This wasn't about her, it was about Faith. And maybe she needed a father. The real question was whether Haley could afford to take a chance on Nathan.

"You won't hurt her?" Her voice was uncertain.

Nathan was more earnest about this than he had ever been about anything in his entire life.

"I promise, Haley. I just want to be there."

* * *

_Please review._


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you for reviewing Nataliegirl1214, SnowWhite213, xSmile, Duckygirl, jenniea, hybridwolf10, CCScott23, deli41321, NaLeYBaBiixo, Naley214, lilmonkeygirl31, and OTHlover04._

_Nataliegirl1214 – Isn't it irritating when you think something and really wish you were able to say it? It's not as if Nathan could've actually said what he was thinking about Faith being all he had left of Haley – she definitely wasn't going to be receptive! Still, it's reassuring to know he was thinking it, isn't it?_

_SnowWhite213 – I love your long reviews! And the EndingUpLikeDanphobia reference – I don't think I've ever heard it referred to as such, but that's exactly what it is, don't you think? Also, the rest of the Tree Hill gang are coming, don't worry!_

_XSmile – don't worry about Chris – as he said in the article in chapter 8, he and Haley are just friends. No surprises are coming about that._

_So, did they come to some kind of compromise, in Faith's best interests? Find out now._

_

* * *

_

There was a sudden hush among the reporters huddled around the entrance to the New York State Orphanage known to be housing Faith James Scott. And then noise exploded as Haley James, now known to be Haley James Scott, emerged from the sleek, black towncar in a neat, dark green suit, her auburn hair up and her face composed. The roar only increased exponentially as Nathan Scott, in casual slacks and a grey jersey, emerged from behind her.

They both smiled, and Haley turned to Nathan to whisper something in his ear. The crowd cheered.

Everyone loved a happy ending.

* * *

"Do not touch me!" Haley hissed at Nathan through clenched teeth, her smile never wavering as she felt his hand graze her elbow.

"What, am I not good enough for you anymore, Hales?"

Haley turned back to the crowd, snorting.

"Were you ever?"

She paused, took a deep breath, and fixed a dazzling smile on her perfect face.

"Just stay away from me."

* * *

Nathan was used to being in the public eye, but this experience was entirely different. Normally, he got interrupted while having coffee with Lucas, or out for the night with a girl. And, while irritating, that didn't bother him too much.

This was not the same. Here he was, standing with Haley, smiling a fake smile as his insides churned nervously. He hadn't been this close to Haley in more than six years, and he had never before been so close to being a father.

This was probably the most important moment of his life, and he did not want to share it. Or, at least, not with anyone other than Haley.

Nathan surveyed his wife from the corner of his eye. Smiling, and making her way determinedly through the press toward the door of the orphanage, she seemed happy, and calm. One would never think she had just been conducting a hushed argument with him only seconds ago.

And yet she had been.

Haley was more practiced, it seemed, at having her life invaded. Unlike Nathan, who, as a man and a sports hero, had most interest directed at his play and any romantic entanglements or perceived disagreements with his brother slash teammate, Haley was used to more pervasive involvement of strangers in her personal life.

Everyone had always known about the kidnapping. Nobody had known who Faith's father was, but her mother had more than made up for that lack. Haley had been some kind of heroine to the masses: a grieving mother, whose music expressed her emotions and gained her the sympathy and love of millions. Haley James was a phenomenon.

And now she was even more so.

Haley reached behind her and grabbed his hand. He could feel her slender fingers gripping him tightly, but ignored the pain. She hadn't touched him in years.

He hadn't deserved to have her touch him.

Turning to him with a brilliant smile as cameras flashed around them, Haley spoke very softly.

"Time to make an entrance, Nathan. And remember, if you f--k this up, I will kill you."

Twirling around, her long, silky hair brushing his jawline, her hand still in his, she smiled at the reporters, uttered the obligatory empty apologies, and pushed open the door with her free hand.

Inside, Sarah / Faith was nervously awaiting her parents' arrival in the front hall, clasping her stuffed tiger, Tigger. She had nothing else. Her mommy had told her to bring whatever she wanted, but Sarah / Faith didn't want to take any of her things with her. Except Tigger.

She wanted to be different now, and she definitely didn't want to take anything with her that would remind her of what she had been.

The door began to open, and Sarah / Faith hopped from one foot to another as she heard loud noises and saw her mother's face, turned towards what looked like a crowd of grown-ups outside. Haley came in, followed closely by Nathan, and the door shut behind them, closing out the clamorous voices jostling for attention.

Sarah / Faith directed her gaze to the floor, but it caught as she saw that her parents were holding hands. She had thought that they didn't get on, but they definitely looked friendly now.

Haley smiled over Sarah / Faith's head at Mrs Anderson, and then crouched in front of her daughter so that their eyes were level, detaching her hand from Nathan's as she did so.

"Hey, baby."

"G'morning, mommy."

Haley smiled brighter, and her eyes began to shimmer. She blinked a couple of times, and then nodded.

"Are you ready to go?"

Sarah / Faith looked at her mommy, and then up at her daddy, standing behind her mommy and looking intently at his daughter.

She reached out, and her little hand clasped Haley's.

"I'm ready."

Haley nodded again, her mouth quivering, and then stood up, not letting go of Sarah / Faith's hand.

"All right, then."

And then Sarah / Faith reached out again, and grasped her daddy's hand with her free one. Safely sheltered by their larger bodies, she looked at the door separating her from the outside world.

Above her, Nathan risked a sideways glance at his wife, only to see her jaw squared and tears running down her cheeks. In an involuntary movement, he reached for her with the hand not clasped in Sarah / Faith's, and wiped her tears away with the rough pad of his thumb.

"Don't cry, Haley."

Haley nodded, and Sarah / Faith felt her mommy squeeze her hand.

It was time to go. Sarah / Faith began to move towards the door, pulling her parents behind her. Daddy reached out and turned the knob, ushering Sarah / Faith and her mommy through.

Faith stepped outside into the noisy crowd, hand in hand with each of her newly discovered parents, and smiled.

Ecstatically.

* * *

_It's so cool – they have little Faith back again, and isn't she happy to be there!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you to my reviewers: Nataliegirl1214, hybridwolf10, xSmile, lilmonkeygirl31, deli41321, NaLeYBaBiixo, JeniRose, Duckygirl, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, and CCScott23._

_Nataliegirl1214: I love the perception / reality divide and how it can play in stories. So I'm glad you enjoyed the way I used it._

_deli41321: The Sarah / Faith thing was deliberate, and at the end of the chapter she actually became just Faith. It's supposed to symbolise the transition from one life to another, and may (I'm not yet certain) show up later. And there is some interesting Nathan and Haley stuff coming over the next few chapters, even though they won't be in all of them, so keep tuned._

_I was going to post this last night – but couldn't in the end because my computer is still playing up. So I'm doing it now. I hope you like the chapter – it's sort of a transition chapter, but it does have a bit of Brooke and Lucas and Jake and Peyton, for those who were missing our supporting characters._

_

* * *

_

Haley's expression was calm as she looked at Nathan, seated directly across from her in the living room of her suite at the Plaza. A green door behind them, framed by their chairs, was closed on the bedroom in which Faith was now sleeping.

Nathan fidgeted a little, uncertain as to what Haley was thinking.

"Look, Haley, we need to organise something, okay? We need to be prepared about this, and not mess the kid up too badly in the process."

"The kid, Nathan?" Haley's expression was disgruntled.

"Faith! You know what I mean." He rolled his eyes. "It's not like I was calling her 'it', Haley."

"No, I suppose not." Haley's expression softened. "Look, Nathan, I'm taking a big chance on letting you be around Faith, especially right now. My lawyer says I still have a pretty good case for sole custody, but you're right, she could use a father right now. I just need to know that you can be that father. That you want to be that father. So I'll let you have that chance. Don't let me down."

_Again._

Nathan, shocked at Haley's speech, paused for a second.

"I won't let you down, Haley."

Haley smiled faintly at her husband.

"You had better not."

* * *

Brooke Davis was not used to silence, and there was far too much of it in her room. All she could do was sit, and think, and worry, and she was no good at that. It just made her obsessive. Like, what if the weirdo escaped from jail and made off with Faith again? Or, what if Haley and Nathan had crashed their car while they were on their way to pick Faith up?

Although, that last one wouldn't have happened, because Faith was already here, in the hotel, in Haley's suite. Brooke hadn't seen her yet, but Haley had called as soon as Faith had gone to her room.

Apparently she was tired, and had gone to sleep almost immediately on arrival. Brooke could understand that – she didn't understand why anyone got up before noon voluntarily, anyway.

So now, Brooke was waiting until Haley and Nathan decided it was time to introduce their child to their friends. Luke, of course, had met her already, but he was family.

So _now_ Brooke regretted having refused to marry Broody when he'd asked four years ago. She would have had access to Faith already by now if she had.

A knock sounded on Brooke's door, and she leapt up from her bed, where she had been sitting cross-legged, staring at the wall.

Peering through the peephole, she rolled her eyes and opened the door.

"Hey, Broody."

"Hey, Cheery."

Strangely enough, Lucas was the one who looked cheery right now. But then again, he had actually been allowed to see Faith.

"So – is she back? What's she like? Is she pretty?"

Lucas laughed.

"Yeah – she's back, and she's pretty, but I don't really know what she's like yet. She's really quiet, and seems shy. Sort of like Haley was? And she looks like Haley, too, only she has Nathan's eyes."

"Ooh – a looker. Nathan's gonna be such the overprotective father when she hits her teens!" Brooke's nose wrinkled in thought. "Or maybe right now, actually. I mean, given the circumstances. God!" she exclaimed. "That kid's never going to be allowed out of the house!"

Lucas laughed again. "You're probably right."

"So, anyway, can I visit? I know Haley said to stay away while they picked her up this morning, but surely we can go up now?"

With a nod, Lucas reached for Brooke's hand. "That's why I'm here, Cheery. Nate called. Apparently we can go up now. Haley wants us to be there for our god-daughter when she wakes."

Brooke cheered.

_Finally._

_

* * *

_

Peyton and Jake were exhausted, having just arrived, finally, in the city that never sleeps. Not that it would be at this moment, anyway, given the fact that it was 11.30 in the morning.

Having finally got a flight in the early hours of the morning, they were dragging a semi-comatose Jenny along with them in their headlong rush towards the Plaza Hotel.

Apparently, Haley and Nate had already picked up their daughter from the orphanage, she had gone for a nap, and right now, Peyton, Jake, and Jenny were all missing out on their first chance to actually see Faith since she had been recovered. Brooke and Lucas had rung them, a call they had received within moments of stepping off the plane, to tell them that when they arrived, they should go directly to Haley's suite.

They had, however, caught the breaking news from the airport: a story on Faith's retrieval showing a dazzlingly happy young girl with beautiful, talented and protective parents. A true story, and yet incomplete.

Because they hadn't actually seen Faith in person yet.

And they were long overdue.

Jenny started to stir between them in the back seat of the taxi.

"Are we there yet?"

Peyton looked at her stepdaughter, smiling. "Almost, honey. Are you looking forward to seeing Faith?"

Jenny looked confused.

"Will I get to meet her? I though she might be too scared to meet everyone."

Peyton frowned.

"Haley seemed to think it'd be fine, baby. Apparently she's a very friendly child."

Jenny didn't look convinced, and Peyton and Jake exchanged concerned glances.

* * *

In the darkened room, Faith lay curled on the bed, clutching Tigger. She was so excited, and so happy to be away from her father, and her mommy and daddy seemed so nice!

But she didn't know them, and she couldn't help but worry.

What was going to happen if she was bad, like she was before? What if they decided they didn't like her, or didn't want her any more? They were so pretty, and so nice – surely they could get any daughter they wanted?

And, after all, who would really want her?

* * *

_Does anybody realise which important characters have been left off this story so far? Because some of them, at least, will be coming up soon._

_Please review._


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you for your reviews, krizue, SnowWhite213, lilmonkeygirl31, hybridwolf10, OTHlover04, deli41321, Nataliegirl1214, CCScott23, JeniRose, naley214, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, NaLeYBaBiixo, and xSmile._

_I really look forward to getting your comments after every chapter, so don't stop! Be prepared for a bit of a wait for the next chapter, though – it's a long weekend here (Queen's Birthday in NZ), and I've taken Friday off work and am travelling up to Auckland to see my family, so probably won't be posting._

_Hopefully you won't be _too _upset by this chapter. It does provide a bit of a twist, though, so be prepared._

_This chapter has been amended to fix an error._

* * *

Karen Scott closed her eyes and smiled as she listened to the voice talking to her through her cell phone. She felt her husband's hand squeeze hers, and she opened her eyes again and smiled at him.

"No, Mom, it looks as if it's all going to work out, actually. Haley said to say that you and Keith were more than welcome to come and visit Faith – it looks like they'll be stuck in New York for a little while at least, pending a few legal issues being tied off. The upside is that the lawyer's arranged for the custody already, and Haley's going to let Nate be involved – "

"Is that a good idea?" Karen interrupted, frowning slightly.

Haley had been – and still was – almost like her own daughter. She loved Nathan, too – he was the son of a close friend, and the brother of her son – but she had always felt protective of Haley. Haley had always been so sweet, and so giving, and so optimistic, that she couldn't understand how anybody could _not _love her. So, even though she loved Nathan, Karen couldn't understand how he had done what he'd done. Not to Haley.

And especially not when she was pregnant with his child.

For some years, Karen had avoided Nathan, although carefully masking her feelings during unavoidable interactions.

Until Faith. And until she understood that, as much as Nathan had hurt Haley, in a way, he'd hurt himself even more.

So she had mended fences with Nathan, but that didn't mean that she wanted him anywhere near Haley and her daughter. Not if there was even the slightest chance he could make the same mistakes again.

Karen's thought processes were interrupted by Luke's response.

"Yeah, Mom, I know what you mean, but I think it's for the best. It'll be hard on Haley, but this is about Faith now, and what she needs. And you know Nathan."

Karen nodded. She knew Nathan. That was why she was concerned.

But he did love Haley. It wasn't as if that had ever not been true, actually. So maybe everything would turn out for the best?

"He's not going to let anything happen, you know? Besides, I'll kick his ass if he screws this up again."

Karen gasped, and laughed, prompting Keith, listening intently to her side of the conversation, to grab the phone off his wife.

"I don't know what you just said, Luke, but your mother looks rather shocked here! So everything's going well?"

In New York, Lucas laughed.

"Hey Keith – yeah. Everything is perfect."

* * *

Dan Scott sat at his desk in his Tree Hill car dealership, his fists clenched on the arms of his chair, a tabloid newspaper lying opened across his desk.

The pictures were bright and the story upbeat, but Dan Scott was anything but.

He thought he had solved the problem years ago, but here it was again, rearing its ugly little head. Dan gave a sudden, eerily engaging, chuckle. Or its pretty little auburn head, depending on how one looked at it.

Either way, it was bad, and Dan was definitely going to do something about it.

And soon.

He hadn't gone to all that effort seven years ago, six years ago, five years ago, and ever since, for nothing.

All that money, all that time, all that effort, would not be wasted just because of one hiccup. Or even one DNA test.

Nathan would come around. He'd recognise what Haley James was, and he'd understand that everything that his father had done was for the best. Just as he had more than six years ago.

Dan's eyes narrowed in thought, malice in their depths. Haley James might have made it in the music world, but she was still the same girl who had ruined his family. The same girl who had stolen his son away. The same girl who had alienated his family, and threatened to ruin his son's life, and who had not been ashamed.

Dan Scott would never allow Haley James or her little bastard to be part of the Scott family.

No way. Over his dead body.

* * *

Deb Scott took a deep breath, inhaling, then exhaling out her tension as she watched the TV news.

Her past had caught up with her, and things would never be the same between Nathan and her after it all came out. She knew that.

_On the screen, the crowd jostled and shoved and yelled questions, and the family – because they undoubtedly were a family – smiled, and nodded, and spoke briefly and without elaboration._

Regardless, maybe it was time.

She had never regretted anything as much as she had regretted what had happened with Haley. What had happened _to _Faith.

_The camera zoomed in on the little girl standing, bulwarked between her parents' larger bodies. Holding hands with both her parents – her mother on her left and her father on her right – she was pressing up against her father's leg, sheltering from the brightness of the flashing cameras._

And although she hadn't been to blame for that – and nobody would've thought she could be – she had always known something was wrong.

_In spite of her otherwise defensive posture, her smile was bright, and carefree._

That something was off.

It was time to come clean.

_The family smiled, and waved, as the father helped his wife and daughter into the waiting car._

Deb Scott wasn't letting her husband get away with it anymore. Especially not after that hurried phone conversation with Nathan, held a day earlier. He had been elated, and she had realised he hadn't been that happy in more than six years. Not since Haley.

So, even though this revelation could ruin her life, or at least her relationship with her son, she needed to make certain he knew the truth. She needed to make sure he had a real chance of realising happiness once again. With Faith, and, hopefully, with Haley as well.

"Hi, is this American Airlines? I need one one-way ticket to New York. As soon as possible, please."

* * *

In a crowded New York city jail, a tidy man in his mid thirties sat, meticulously clad in a grey suit. Silent, he watched the others sharing his cell, ignoring their shouts, and their laughter, and the odd scuffle. The cell was cramped and smelled strongly of urine, but that didn't matter. This was not where he was supposed to be, and no doubt shortly he would be taken out. After all, he had just been doing what was right.

David Knight adjusted his shirtsleeves, ensuring they were even and that he appeared presentable.

It was just a matter of time until everything was cleared up and he was back in his home with Sarah. She needed to be cared for. She needed to be taught what was right.

And he needed what he got in exchange for keeping her.

* * *

_Please Review!_

_Next chapter: Faith emerges from her room to meet everyone._


	14. Chapter 14

_Thank you to lilmonkeygirl31, JeniRose, hybridwolf10, WeightedTiarra, xSmile, deli41321, OTHlover04, NaLeYBaBiixo, krizue, naley214, Duckygirl, and iftheyonlyknewthetruth for your reviews – I really appreciate them._

_Thank you particularly to JeniRose and xSmile, for pointing out my Andy / Keith error! As I was initially writing I couldn't decide between the two of them, who Karen would end up with. And in the show, of course, Keith is dead so I was defaulting to Andy. But I decided that in my show the shooting never happened – it is AU from the second season, anyway, so I figure I can pick and choose what I want from later seasons. And I don't want Keith to be dead! So in the end I changed back to Keith from Andy, on the spur of the moment, and obviously without checking my replacement skills! Rest assured, the error has been fixed, and it is now clear that Karen is with Keith._

_Also: we should all know by now – Dan is always to blame for everything._

_This chapter is mainly about Faith and how she's going to fit back into the world she was stolen from. Could be sad, so be prepared._

* * *

Faith sat upright in the bed, blinking her eyes furiously to avert the tears she knew were about to fall. It had been long enough, and she needed to leave. She couldn't afford to be weak. She couldn't afford not to face the people who had claimed her as theirs.

A fleeting smile crossed her face as she carefully set Tigger aside – under the covers of the bed, so that he wouldn't get cold.

Maybe it would all work out. They were nice, and she wanted to be good. Maybe if she tried _really, really _hard, everything would be fine and they wouldn't get mad, like her old daddy, or send her back to him when they realised they really didn't want her after all.

But if she wanted to stay, she would need to show them how good she could be.

Faith kicked the blankets back, and stood up. She stretched, blinked her eyes a few times, and then turned back to tidy the bed, snatching Tigger up again as she did. She could do this, but she wouldn't do it alone.

Assured that the room was tidy again and that she looked as tidy as she could herself, Faith turned to the door, and heaved a deep sigh as she walked towards it. Stopping directly in front, her hand on the doorknob, she listened to see what to expect from the other side.

There was nothing, really. She couldn't hear any noise at all. Maybe mommy and daddy had gone somewhere?

Maybe they'd left already?

Panicked, Faith jerked the door open and burst through, only to be confronted by a crowd of very silent people. There was her mommy and daddy, and Uncle Lucas, and a pretty lady with brown hair, and a pretty lady with blonde hair, and a tall man holding the hand of a small girl, about a year or two older than Faith.

Faith's mommy jumped up, smiling widely at her.

"Did you have a good nap, baby?"

Faith nodded. Who were all the people?

Her mommy spoke again. "We thought you should meet your family, baby. But if you're tired, they can go after that."

Haley was nervous. It had seemed like the best thing, to introduce her daughter to the family she'd missed out on – the family who'd been looking for her for the past five years. But, looking at Faith now, Haley wondered if she'd rushed things. Maybe everything was going too fast?

At that point, Jenny gave a 'hmmph', and stalked over to the younger girl, thrusting out her hand.

"Hello, Faith. I'm Jenny. My mommy and daddy are friends with your mommy and daddy."

Faith smiled.

Haley's eyes closed briefly with relief, as Jenny solemnly shook hands with Faith, then began to pull her towards the rest of the group.

"That's my mommy and daddy, and Uncle Lucas, and Aunt Brooke, and you know Uncle Nate and Aunt Haley, obviously."

Faith nodded, her smile slightly dimmed but still enough to allay the tension a little.

Peyton laughed and reached for Jenny. "Honey, don't scare Faith!" Turning to the other girl, Peyton smiled widely. "It's lovely to see you again, Faith. You can call me Aunt Peyton, and this is Uncle Jake."

"Hello."

Peyton smiled wider, involuntarily, her mouth wobbling a little as she grasped her husband's arm firmly. He slid his arm about her waist, pulling her towards him in comfort, as a muffled sob came from the pretty brown-haired lady – Aunt Brooke? As Faith's head jerked toward the other woman, she jumped a little, finding herself quickly enveloped in a tight, exotically scented embrace.

Quickly released, as the pretty lady dashed her hand across her eyes and smiled brightly, Faith rocked a little on her heels.

"Aunt Brooke?"

Brooke nodded. "Yup, that's me, Scott-junior. I've missed you, baby!" She looked at Faith's toy. "Cool! What's his name?"

"Tigger."

Haley laughed, and Aunt Brooke shot a teasing glare at her, then turned back to Faith, a wide smile on her face.

"You know what, Scott-junior? I think we're gonna get along really well." Brooke nodded decisively.

Uncle Luke came up behind Brooke and placed his hand on her shoulder as she crouched in front of Faith. Brooke turned and smiled up at him, clasping his hand with her own and rising to her feet once more.

Faith looked away from Brooke. She had met the others already, of course – mommy, and daddy, and Uncle Luke.

Haley patted the seat next to her on the sofa.

"Come and sit next to me, baby! We all want to get to know you, if that's ok?"

Faith looked at her mother's eager face, and at her father, smiling at her. She smiled back, and walked up to him and took his hand, leading him with her to the sofa, where she sat, pulling him down next to her so that she was wedged between her new parents. She could feel the warmth of their bodies against her sides, and it warmed her inside as well as out. These were her parents. This was home.

And all she had to do to keep it was be good.

* * *

Haley looked down at her daughter's bright head, nodding eagerly beside her as she listened to Luke and Nathan argue.

"Hey, man, I warned you that Josh was going to try to recruit you!"

"You did not! You told me to go and see him because he had something to say to me." Luke's voice was wry. "You didn't say that he was looking for coaches for a basketball team full of eight-year-old girls."

"Cmon!" Nathan grinned. "You love it, admit it! They think you're dreamy!"

Luke yelped. "They're eight years old, Nathan!"

"And?"

Brooke interrupted at that point.

"Yeah, Lucas, are you trying to deny it? You know you love the underage hotties."

"Eight!"

Brooke nodded, conceding the point. "So maybe you're looking at their mothers."

Lucas heaved a weary sigh as Jake and Peyton roared with laughter.

"Fine, I'll admit it! Just stop talking about the eight-year-olds! It's creepy."

Faith gave a high, piping giggle, and there was a momentary pause before the others joined in.

Haley smiled.

Nathan darted a quick glance in her direction, and turned back to the conversation.

"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this in front of an eight-year-old? Or, for that matter, in front of a six-year-old?"

Peyton laughed uproariously at that, drawing surprised glances from everyone.

"What?" she yelped, noticing everyone staring. "Am I the only one shocked that that comment just came from Nathan Scott?"

Jake gave a judicious nod.

"You know, she's right, Nate. Not what one would expect from the guy who had three seniors on a string in his sophomore year. Although I suppose at least they weren't eight."

"Let it go with the eight-year-olds already!"

Faith looked around this crowd of happy, laughing people, feeling strangely secure for one of the first times in her life. She had been introduced to all of them, and they had all been so interested, asking her about herself and her life, but when she had started to quieten, unused to such concerted interest from anyone, let alone a group of virtual strangers, they had started talking to each other. And that was in itself a revelation. She wasn't used to seeing adults interact as friends. Her first daddy hadn't had any friends, and she didn't see many other people. Everything had always needed to be proper, and she had had to be so polite all the time, and she had always been doing something wrong.

These people didn't seem to care what she did, as long as she was happy, and comfortable, and they all seemed to care about each other. It was like the families that Faith had sometimes seen when her classmates' families had come to school activities.

But this time she was a part of it.

Her mommy had pulled her into her lap, and her daddy, even as he argued with all his friends, was holding her hand, playing with her fingers, as if he couldn't bear to lose contact. She was warm, and she was sleepy – all this excitement was exhausting – and she was happy.

Nestling further into her mother's warmth, Faith sighed.

She didn't want this to end. Not ever.

* * *

_Please review._


	15. Chapter 15

_Hey everyone! Thank you to iftheyonlyknewthetruth, Nataliegirl1214, hybridwolf10, deli41321, Duckygirl, xSmile, lilmonkeygirl31, JeniRose, krizue, and OTHlover04 for reviewing, I really do appreciate it._

_I'm trying to make my chapters longer at the moment, but I seem to have this instinctive block set around the 1400 word mark. Will try to break it, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy._

_This chapter is an attempt to get closer to Nathan and Haley, without all the conflict._

_

* * *

_

A slim but busty blonde woman in her early forties stepped from the cab and headed towards the large downtown office building that housed the New York offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Slipping in through the revolving doors, she walked determinedly towards the reception.

"I need to talk to an Agent Streiker. With the FBI."

The woman behind the desk nodded, reaching for her phone and entering an extension.

"Hi Barry. Is Agent Streiker available?" There was a pause, then the receptionist turned back to the blonde woman in front of her. "What was it regarding, madam?"

The woman visibly fumbled for words. "Um . . . a kidnapping? Faith James Scott."

The receptionist's expression was not encouraging. "Madam, generally media enquiries go through the FBI's communications centre, and –"

"This is not a media enquiry. I have information that Agent Streiker may find valuable."

The receptionist eyed the blonde with scepticism, but turned back to the telephone. "Agent Streiker? There's a woman here who claims she has some information about the Faith James Scott kidnapping." She nodded in response to something coming from the other end of the phone, and then hung up.

Looking at the visitor, the receptionist pressed a button behind her desk.

"You may take the elevators over there," she indicated to her left. "Agent Streiker will be waiting for you on the seventeenth floor."

Striding to the bank of elevators, the woman stepped into one and the doors shut behind her. Pressing the button for seventeen, she waited, watching the display as the elevator rose, each new level attained seeming to take hours rather than seconds. Finally, after stops on the fifth and fourteenth floors, the elevator dinged, and the display indicated that she was at the correct level.

Taking a deep breath, the woman exited the elevator, heading for the tall, slightly stern-looking man in his mid forties who was clearly waiting for someone.

"Agent Streiker?"

The man eyed his visitor, his gaze lingering for a second or two on the generous cleavage on display.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I'm Deb Scott. I don't believe we've met."

Shock entering his face, the man stretched out his hand, which she shook.

"Nathan Scott's mother?"

Deb smiled. "That would be me. And I know why my grand-daughter was kidnapped."

Agent Streiker stilled.

"I think you should come with me, Mrs Scott."

Deb nodded.

"This probably would be better done in private, yes."

* * *

Haley looked over at Nathan, who was smiling at his daughter as he tucked her into bed with Tigger.

The day had gone extremely well, really. Haley was prepared to admit that it was maybe one of the happiest days of her life.

It was also one of the saddest.

She had recovered her daughter. But she did not know her. She knew Faith was beautiful, and polite, and friendly, but she didn't know her favourite colour, or why she named her stuffed tiger Tigger, or whether she was actually happy. She didn't know if Faith had friends, or family, that she would miss. She didn't know if Faith really wanted to be there with her.

She didn't know if Faith even remembered her.

But she did know that she remembered Faith.

And she did know that Nathan was trying. So as he backed out of Faith's temporary bedroom, leaving her to kiss her daughter's forehead, and cheeks, and whisper a teary goodnight, she made a decision.

And as she turned and left the room, looking back at Faith while turning out the light – to make certain she really was still there – she convinced herself that this decision was the right one.

"Nathan."

Nathan turned to Haley, surprised that she was talking to him. They had spent the day together with their friends and their daughter, but Haley had not talked to him. She had not _not _talked to him, either. She'd asked him to pass the bread rolls at lunch and the salad dressing at dinner, and she'd helped him tease Brooke about Brooke's well publicised style decision that red was the new black.

But she hadn't actually talked to him.

"Haley?"

Haley looked at Nathan, wracked with sudden indecision, and then just plunged in.

"Faith needs a home. I have an apartment in LA. We'll move there, and if you really do want it, you can be involved in her life."

Nathan was shocked, and it showed.

"Haley – "

"Don't interrupt, Nathan. I'm letting you be involved because I think you can help her, and I'm moving to LA because in theory I already live there. Don't make this mean anything more than it does."

Nathan nodded. It wasn't as if he could have said anything anyway.

He was going to get to really be a father. Not part of a family with Haley – clearly that wasn't ever going to happen, he had screwed that up far too badly to repair – but at least he would be part of a family with Faith. With his daughter.

The silence was interrupted by a ringing, and, although Haley and Nathan's eyes were locked and neither moved toward the phone, it kept ringing, persistently. Finally, Haley rolled her eyes and moved towards the phone table.

"Hello . . . Agent Streiker! . . . Of course, come right up."

Haley turned to Nathan, the fraught atmosphere forgotten in a second.

"Apparently there's been some kind of a breakthrough in the case. Agent Streiker's coming up to talk to us now."

As they stood, waiting for the knock on the door, Nathan glanced over at the closed door to his daughter's room. Whatever this breakthrough was, it would not change what had just happened.

Haley was going to move to LA. He could be a father to Faith.

And maybe, in time, he could make peace with his wife.

Haley jumped as a sharp rap sounded, and hurried to the door, opening it and then falling back a little in shock.

"Deb!"

Agent Streiker entered the room, followed closely by Nathan's mother.

"Mom!"

"Nate. Haley."

"Why are you with Agent Streiker?" Nathan queried.

Agent Streiker interrupted at this point.

"Your mother came to me with some valuable information about your daughter's kidnapping."

Two shocked faces turned to Deb. Haley was the first to speak.

"What did you know about Faith's kidnapping, Deb?"

Deb was silent, and her expression blank. Agent Streiker answered for her.

"She gave us a theory about motive and means." Agent Streiker paused. "I think it's best if you both sit down for this."

* * *

Brooke and Lucas stared at each other, shock on their faces, as Brooke hung up the phone. She turned away from Lucas, gathered the sheet about her naked body (pulling the covers off him as she did so) and stood.

"Well, this was unexpected."

Lucas nodded to the spot she'd just been lying in. "That, or _that_?"

Brooke tilted her head to the side, and impish smile appearing. "Both? But really, Luke, that, at least, was to be expected. It's not like we ever actually had closure. You just moved away and things – stopped. But I'm more concerned about Haley and Nathan right now, so we should probably put off any deep and meaningful conversation for a while."

"So – Dan."

Brooke nodded, saying nothing in response.

"I suppose it's not as if we shouldn't have expected it."

* * *

_Please Review_


	16. Chapter 16

_Thank you to my reviewers: DramaQueen161, hybridwolf10, SnowWhite213, iftheyonlyknewthetruth (BTW, I agree completely!), Nataliegirl1214, RYnRISSluv4eva (I like to know what people are thinking in stories – and you're right, it doesn't seem to happen enough sometimes), xSmile, Duckygirl, and JeniRose._

_Nataliegirl1214 – I know, Haley is a bit much at the moment. She'll calm, though – and she does have some justification, after all!_

_JeniRose – unfortunately, no Deb/Haley/Nathan conversation is planned at this point, although I'll definitely explain what happened (it may take a while)._

_I'm surprised I've managed to keep this story up as long as I have, but I'm actually really enjoying writing it, which is good. Having said this, I realise my postings have slowed down. Don't be concerned about this – I am still writing, I'm just trying to figure out a few logistical issues, which are slowing me down a little._

_Also, I've been sick this week, which hasn't helped. It's just gone winter here, and things are suddenly cold! So, of course, I've been sniffly and disgusting._

_I hope you like this chapter. It may be a little confusing, but don't worry, everything will be explained shortly._

_

* * *

_

Dan Scott knew that it was only a matter of time before somebody came to him, but he didn't care. Deb had gone off somewhere – God knows where: probably to tattle – and that gave him time to set everything in motion. He might be going down, but he would take everyone else down with him.

That girl would never be a Scott.

Neither girl.

So Dan twirled the dial on his safe, and opened the door, staring in to the darkened depths, a malicious smirk twisting his mouth. Reaching in, he pulled out a brown envelope, and retreated to his desk, shutting the safe behind him.

He might be going down, but there was no point in being foolhardy.

Placing the envelope, unopened, on the clear surface of his desk, he eyed it with a considering – and very malicious – expression, and then reached for the phone.

"Pete? I have a story for you. What's your email address and fax number?"

* * *

**May 23, 2005**

Nathan's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the man who had fathered him, seated at his chair behind the president's desk at Dan Scott Motors. Exactly why Dan had requested this meeting was a mystery to him, and not one he was particularly interested in solving. He had enough going on with his life right now, what with Haley gone with that wannabe rockstar Chris Keller. Nathan was concerned that his life was collapsing around him, and he wasn't interested in whatever scheme his father had going.

"So, Dad. Why the summons?"

"Can't a father just want to spend time with his son?"

Nathan eyed his father with cynicism.

"A father? Sure. You? I don't think so. Give it up, Dad. Just tell me what you want to tell me, so that I can go."

"And what exactly are you going to, son? Your apartment? Alcohol? Or has Haley come back?"

Nathan shook his head at his father.

"No, Dad. You're not doing this to me right now. If that's what this is about, I'm leaving."

He stood and turned rapidly toward the door, just wanting to get away, to get out, to be on his own.

"Oh, Nate, hold up just a bit, won't you? I've got something to share with you."

Pausing, Nathan did not turn around, but he did wait for his father to continue. Instead of going on, he felt his father moving behind him, and flinched when he felt the large hand land on Nathan's shoulder.

"And I think you'll want to see this."

With that, Dan inexorably led his son back to his seat in front of the large desk, pushing him down with just enough force to land Nathan securely in the chair there once more.

Nathan said nothing, just eying his father in annoyance as he retreated behind the desk, reaching down to retrieve something from a lower drawer. Drawing out a large manila envelope, he threw it onto the desk, directly in front of Nathan.

"Go ahead, son. Take a look."

Nathan looked down at the envelope, and then back at his father with scepticism.

"Again, Dad, why?"

Dan chuckled and nodded towards the envelope, an unholy gleam in his eyes. Clearly he wasn't going to let Nathan out of the room until he'd looked at whatever was in that envelope. Nathan wanted to get out.

Surveying his father's grinning face with some misgiving, he reached for the envelope and opened it slowly, drawing the contents out as Dan's grin widened. Looking down, his face registered shock.

"Where did you get these?"

"Why are you asking that, son? Surely you know I'm just looking out for you?"

Nathan snorted, reaching down for the photographs and scanning them closer, as if hunting for a reason to disbelieve their contents.

"You'd have to be spying on me to get this sort of photograph, _Dad_."

"Spying, looking out for you. No real difference to me, there, Nate." Still grinning, Dan considered his work with some sense of achievement. This was what he had wanted out of the day. Sure, Nate was hurt, but he'd get over it.

"Anyway, son, the cars won't sell themselves. I'm going to get out to the yard and see how my salespeople are doing. You can show yourself out."

Clasping his son on the shoulder on his way to the door, Dan threw out his parting shot.

"Oh, and feel free to keep the pictures. They're just copies, I have the originals."

As the door closed behind his father, Nathan couldn't draw his gaze from what laid in front of him.

_Haley._

Utter devastation in his face, Nathan traced the lines of her face in the photographs he held. The face of the woman he loved. The face of the woman he clearly could no longer trust.

He sat there, staring blankly at the photographs, until each of the six shots Dan had handed him in that inoffensive envelope was burned onto his retina, and then he closed his eyes. He couldn't take any more of this.

And he wouldn't take them with him. Instead, he stood, turned, and walked out the door, away from his father, away from the life he had had before, and away from the colourful photographs scattered across the top of his father's desk.

Dan smiled when he saw him leave.

He'd finally broken his son.

* * *

**December 3, 2011**

Dan smiled with satisfaction as he fed the cover sheet into the fax machine in his office. Beyond the office, he could hear noise, and he knew what was coming.

But at least he'd had time to do this.

Feeding in the first photograph, and then the second, Dan looked up in feigned shock when a three men and a woman burst into his office.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, as the third photograph was fed in. His eye strayed to the computer screen, and he grinned as he saw the message there. Mail sent.

The intruders stepped towards him, drawing out identification.

"Dan Scott, we're with the F.B.I. We are authorised to take you for questioning in the matter of the kidnapping of Faith James Scott."

Dan raised his eyebrows, shock in every line of his expression.

"Faith? My granddaughter? And you think I have something to do with it?" He chuckled as the fourth photograph was fed into the machine. Sure, the faxing was just a backup, but it was definitely satisfying.

"Well, whatever I can do to help, officers." With that, he cast the remaining photographs aside, scattering them on his desk.

The female officer's gaze followed his movement, and her eyes narrowed as she saw the contents of the pictures Dan had cast aside. Her eyes locked with his, and she read the malice in his expression.

He'd definitely done something.

And those photographs might be part of it.

Drawing a piece of paper from her pocket, she smiled.

"Thank you for that, Mr Scott," she said, unfolding the paper with fingers gloved in rich brown leather. "We would appreciate your accompanying us to the police station, where the officers have kindly made a room available. Also, we have a warrant here," she waved the sheet of paper "to search your premises."

Bending forward, she reached for the photographs.

"These could be of interest."

* * *

**4 December 2011**

The day after Dan Scott was taken for questioning in Faith's kidnapping, a story burst, with shocking force, in the world of tabloid journalism.

_**Reason for James-Scott Split?**_

_The kidnapping of Faith James Scott, and her recent recovery by the FBI, has eclipsed the story of a teenage marriage between Grammy Award-winning Haley James and star Lakers player Nathan Scott._

_What has been clear is that neither is talking about the reasons they split before their daughter was born._

_In photographs received yesterday from a party close to the couple, an idea of exactly what the reason for this estrangement has emerged._

_See photographs on pages 3 and 4._

On the front page of virtually every tabloid for a week, the same photographs ran. Pictures of Haley James Scott, smiling, happy, apparently in love.

And with Chris Keller.

Kissing Chris Keller.

In love with Chris Keller.

* * *

_Please review. And don't kill me!_


	17. Chapter 17

_Don't blame me (entirely, anyway) for the delay: I've been trying to upload this chapter for about three days now but fanfiction . net wouldn't let me!_

_Thank you for reviewing hybridwolf10, steffyoth, Lorilozz, SnowWhite213, Nataliegirl1214 (massive understatement – you 'don't like Dan much' – who does, really?), xSmile, lilmonkeygirl31, krizue, CCScott23, JeniRose, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, naley-obsseshunz-xOx, and boombaibe. I realise last chapter was a severe cliffhanger – it's good of you to hang in there!_

_SnowWhite213: I agree about Dan, he IS always evil. On the other hand, murdering him has always seemed rather an extreme solution to the problem (and by now very repetitive on the show – who hasn't tried to murder Dan at some point by now?). So I probably won't be doing that. I do like to imagine it, though!_

_krizue: thanks for picking up on the error – it has been corrected! And you'll be relieved about what is about to be revealed about those pictures._

_This chapter will provide something of an explanation for the previous chapter. Hopefully it'll make all of you feel better about what is going on!_

_

* * *

_

Nathan knocked on the door to Haley's suite, his mind recalling the last time he was there. The time he had found out his own mother had – not _known_, but suspected – that Dan was behind Faith's kidnapping.

The time he had told her to leave, and that he never wanted to see her again.

She had gone, more easily than he had feared, and he didn't regret that. Even though now he could not help but think of her face as it had appeared after he had made his repudiation. Exhausted. Devastated.

But even as Brooke opened the door to Haley's suite, ushered him in, and then left herself, shooting an almost sympathetic gaze in his direction as she shut the door behind her, he knew that something bigger was at stake now.

Haley, her face calm, sat in the sofa in her sitting room, her face hidden behind a large newspaper. Nathan squinted, trying to make out the cover. As it turned out, he needn't have tried.

"What is this?" Haley queried, throwing the tabloid to the coffee table.

Nathan approached closer, glanced down, winced, and looked back up at her.

"I don't know?" he tried.

Haley's eyebrow rose, and her face reddened.

"Try again, Nathan. This is you, right? Trying to throw dirt to help with custody?"

Nathan smirked a little.

"I don't know that that'd actually help with custody, Hales. It'd be more likely to hurt – I mean, those photos are time stamped, apparently, and you seem to have hit on the only tabloid that's not hinting that Faith's Chris's kid. I mean, I would have the DNA test to back me up, but the facts don't appear to matter."

Haley looked even madder.

"You're the only one with any reason to let something like this get out!"

Nathan shook his head.

"Come on! Like you having an affair would help me, the one whose father kidnapped his kid and whose mother helped to cover it up? Besides, you're forgetting Dan."

"Dan? Why on earth would he care if these photos got out? He's in jail, Nate. Something like this is hardly going to help his case."

Nathan nodded.

"It might not help his case, no. But it'd sure as hell upset everyone else. And you know Dan. Besides, they're his photos."

Haley nodded. She could believe that Dan would be that malicious. But – her head snapped toward Nathan.

"His photos? How would you know that unless you had something to do with this?"

Nathan paused.

"Well?"

"What do you want me to say, Haley? I saw them six and a half years ago, okay? He showed them to me."

Haley's eyes widened. Her gaze shot from the tabloid to his stubborn face, and she gasped.

"When did he show them to you, Nathan?"

He was silent.

"Did you believe them, Nathan?"

* * *

**June 12, 2005**

Nathan Scott sat in his apartment, alone, the aftermath of his confrontation with Haley – a pregnant Haley – ringing in his ears and echoing in his brain.

"_Not mine, Haley."_

"_Don't come back, Haley."_

It was over.

And he had never felt so alone.

He had been tempted, throughout the argument, to just let it go. To pretend he hadn't seen those pictures. To pretend he didn't know the truth. To raise a child that couldn't be his, not with how small Haley's belly was. She should be bigger at five and a half months.

No, it had to be Chris's.

His wife was pregnant with another man's child.

Nathan lowered his head into his hands, closing his eyes.

It didn't help. He could still see those photographs, mocking him, taunting him, telling him something he didn't want to know.

The problem wasn't even that Haley had been unfaithful or that she was pregnant with Keller's spawn. The problem was that she had to be in love with him.

Despite everything that had come out, Nathan knew Haley. He knew what she was like. He knew how important sex was to her. He knew how important _love _was to her. And if she had really loved Nathan, she would not have slept with Chris Keller.

The real problem was that if Haley had not loved Chris Keller, she wouldn't have slept with him.

Haley must love him. It was the only explanation.

And yet Nathan still loved Haley. Loved her enough to know that she'd never be happy with him now. Loved her enough to let her go.

So she was gone, leaving Nathan alone and devastated in a world that would never be as bright as it had been only months before.

But Nathan would love her forever.

And he'd never tell anyone what she'd done. Haley deserved to be happy. Haley deserved to have friends – especially now. She'd need them to help her get through the pregnancy.

Silence was the least he could give her.

* * *

**December 4, 2011**

"You did believe it."

It wasn't a question.

"You believed I'd cheated on you?" Haley's voice was rising, and Nathan gave thanks for the fact that Faith was playing with Brooke and Lucas in Lucas's room. "With Chris? After everything I told you? After how much time I spent telling you that nothing had changed?" She eyed him in disgust. "How could you, Nathan? This is why you told me to leave, right? Because your father showed you photographs of me and Chris?"

Nathan could take a little yelling, but enough was enough.

"How could _you_, Haley? You left. And then you came back, no excuse, no real explanation, five and a half months pregnant but not looking pregnant at all, and expected me to take you back? What exactly were you expecting?"

"You, Nate!" Haley's voice was loud, and harsh. "I expected you. Not some scared little boy whose daddy had convinced him that his wife was cheating on him. Why didn't you ask?"

Nathan shook his head. "Ask? Ask what, exactly, Haley? 'Oh, my dad showed me some pictures but I figured they had to be fake – you're not in love with Chris, are you?' I saw the photos, Haley. And you were gone, and they were . . . convincing."

Haley's mouth quirked in disgust. "Sure. Convincing. As long as you didn't realise that there is such a thing as Photoshop and that your father hates me! And that that pose there –" Haley jabbed her finger at the offending tabloid "- is identical to that photo we used to have of the two of us playing mini-golf. I'm even wearing the same clothes, although it looks like my sweater has been altered to look blue instead of green."

Nathan closed his eyes. He hadn't actually made that connection, but Haley was right. That photo, taken by Luke after he and Haley had been dating a few months and during a time when he and his brother were starting to get along, had been displayed in a prominent position in the apartment after he and Haley married.

"Yeah, Haley, I did realise they were fake eventually."

"Eventually meaning when, Nathan?"

Nathan didn't answer. He couldn't answer.

"When, Nathan?"

Nathan opened his eyes again.

"I realised after we lost Faith."

Looking into Haley's eyes, Nathan saw them darken with fury.

"So my daughter gets kidnapped and suddenly you realise 'oh, my father hates Haley, he must've been lying and Faith must've been mine'! Now wonder Lucas has been telling me about how guilty you've felt for so long, Nathan! Of course you felt guilty! It shouldn't have taken that to convince you of something that was so patently obvious, Nathan. Do you have any idea how I felt? How you made me feel? How difficult that time was for me – pregnant, and alone?"

Haley shook her head, the fury fading, to be replaced by a quiet sadness.

"And all the time you were just listening to your father. You should've known better, Nathan. I trusted you to know better than that."

Haley paused, and Nathan could not speak. She stared at him, clearly processing a vigorous internal argument as her features reflected grief and uncertainty. Finally, her face cleared as a curious calm spread across it.

"But I suppose this was all so long ago that it doesn't matter anymore. It's not as if we're the same people we were seven years ago. And I suppose at least I'm glad that you had a reason for doing what you did." Haley smiled hesitantly at her husband. "You know what, maybe we can start over. For Faith, at least. Friends?"

And even as he listened, one word rang in Nathan's head.

_Alone._

_

* * *

_

_So – I hope this makes all of you feel a little more sympathetic toward Nathan. It's not entirely his fault, after all – we can blame pretty much everything that went wrong on Dan, now. That's the way it should be, after all._

_Please review._


	18. Chapter 18

_Thank you for reviewing deli41321, boombaibe, ssphinxx, don't-confess68, lilmonkeygirl31, hybridwolf10, JeniRose, xSmile, krizue, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, Duckygirl, naley-obsseshunz-xOx._

_boombaibe: I think Haley is a strong character, and that really needs to be acknowledged in these stories. Particularly this Haley, given all that she's gone through._

_Hybridwolf10: keep reading – at some point I will take that hint._

_Enjoy the chapter. There's at least one huge revelation coming. It may (or may not) be a surprise. My personal theory is that you all know it already!_

* * *

Nathan held the cellphone to his ear, wincing as he heard his coach's harsh tones, completely leached of any sympathy.

"Look, I understand that you're going through a family crisis – my wife does read the tabloids, Scott – but you and your brother need to come back. I've told him that, several times, and he keeps telling me to wait, so I'm calling you. I'm sorry about the situation with your kid - although it's the first I've heard of it – but we're getting pummelled out here, and you both need to get back, pronto."

Nathan sighed.

"Look, coach, it's not that easy -"

"I didn't say it was easy, kid. I just said to do it. You don't get back soon, both of you, and there's no way we're making the playoffs this year. So get your ass in gear."

The phone clicked off, and Nathan flipped it shut, an annoyed expression on his face.

He couldn't leave now. There was no way, if he did, that Haley would understand.

* * *

Haley sat in the lounge of her suite, staring at Brooke as Peyton giggled.

"Oh my god! I'm giggling! I haven't done that in forever!"

Haley rolled her eyes at Peyton's comment, still staring at Brooke.

"You. And Lucas."

Brooke nodded. Her expression was slightly scared.

"What were you thinking, Brooke? You know you're dating Jean-Luc!"

"But it's Lucas!"

Peyton, still giggling, made a heroic attempt to curb her reaction. There was silence for a few seconds, and then she started up again.

Brooke, distracted, stared at her friend.

"Is she really giggling?"

Haley nodded.

Peyton, through her giggles, managed to say something almost coherent.

"You a-a-and L-lucas! It's s-s-s-s-sooo 2005!"

Brooke shook her head, serious now.

"That's never happening again, Peyton. Just shut up!"

Peyton, her giggles magically halted, nodded.

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it, Brooke! You know I love you."

Brooke smiled a little at her friend.

"I love you, too, P. Sawyer-Jagielski." She paused. "Also, I think I still love Lucas."

Haley and Peyton just looked at Brooke. She started to smile.

"Oh – no fair! You already knew!"

Haley burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, Brooke! Of course we knew!"

"It's only been true for eight years, after all." Peyton rolled her eyes.

Brooke shook her head, making a hurt face at her friends. "You don't need to rub it in! Besides, neither of you are any better: you and Jake are like, stable with a kid," she pointed at Peyton, "and you –" her attention swinging to Haley, Brooke paused. "Oops."

Haley's expression tightened a little, and her eyebrows raised.

"Forget it." Brooke made a dismissive gesture with her hand and turned to Peyton.

"I don't think we should forget it, Brooke." Peyton was finally serious, her eyes steadily gazing at Haley. "We all know what you were about to say."

"And what is that, Peyton?" Haley asked, her tone of disinterest belied by the slight crack in her voice.

"You know what I'm talking about, Haley. I'm talking about the fact that you still love Nathan."

* * *

Jake, Lucas, and Nathan, slumped on the armchairs in the lounge of Nathan's suite, were silent. Finally Jake spoke.

"So you have to get back to work, too, huh? Because I haven't wanted to mention it to Haley, but Peyton and I probably need to get back, too. Her next show's coming up soon, and my editor's starting to get a little antsy."

Lucas spoke up. "Coach apparently really needs us. And my mom wants to visit with Haley and Faith – apparently she's the closest thing to a grandchild Mom expects to have for at least the next five years – but not till they're back home and she can help with all the settling in. Haley's parents are the same, too – their RV's in Texas at the moment, but as soon as she's settled they'll be coming."

Nathan finally spoke, almost reluctantly. "Karen's visiting?"

Lucas nodded. "And Keith. They're really excited about it, actually."

Nathan nodded. "Cool."

Lucas looked at his brother.

"Hey, Nate, snap out of it, man! You knew we'd have to go back."

Nathan shook his head, his expression darkening. "Look, Lucas, you just don't get it. If I leave now, Haley'll never understand. I mean, she has to stay for the trial and everything – "

Lucas frowned. "No, she doesn't. I actually don't know why she's still here. She'd probably be better going home to wait. Apparently nothing's likely to happen for at least a couple of months, despite Dan's high-powered attorney and the DA assigned to Knight's case. Apparently they'll be tried together, but in the meantime there's no bail, and it's just a matter of building up the case."

Nathan frowned. "So why hasn't she gone home?"

Lucas shrugged. "I really don't know. I think it just hasn't occurred to her."

* * *

Haley's face was blank as she stared at Peyton, assimilating her last statement.

_It was that obvious?_

"I don't love Nathan, Peyton."

The weak response didn't convince anybody.

"I really don't."

And then Haley started sobbing.

Brooke closed her eyes, only to open them to shoot a disgusted glare at a rather abashed Peyton. Rushing over to where Haley stood, she enfolded her in her arms.

"Of course you don't, tutorgirl."

Haley's sobs only got louder as Brooke hugged her, rubbing her back in a repetitive and soothing motion. Brooke looked helplessly over Haley's shoulder towards Peyton, trying to gain some sort of inspiration from her friend in how to deal with this kind of grief, but Peyton only shrugged, an equally helpless look on her own face.

So instead of saying anything, Brooke stood there, her eyes closed as she took in the sound of one of her closest friends' broken heart. It didn't sound good. It sounded messy, and jagged, and lonely, and Brooke was so afraid that if she admitted the truth, she would be making exactly the same sort of sound.

It was those Scott boys. You couldn't help but love them, but you also couldn't trust them not to break your heart. No matter how much you wanted to be able to, and no matter how many chances you gave them. Eventually, it seemed, they were incapable of doing anything other than failing to meet your expectations. And, more than failing, failing miserably.

That's why it had been so difficult for Brooke to admit that she still loved Lucas. But admit it she had, and now it was time to do something about it. Even as Haley's wrenching sobs quietened to muffled sniffles, Brooke's eyes narrowed, determination in their depths. She would challenge that truth. She would challenge the past. She was Brooke Davis, by God, and no man got the better of her.

If she loved Lucas Scott, then he would just have to shape up.

And maybe, just maybe, kick some sense into his brother.

Brooke was so enamoured of her plan that she almost missed the murmur of Haley's voice, huskily emitting from her hot and raw throat.

"What was that, tutorgirl?"

Standing behind Haley, her hand on Haley's shoulder, Peyton leant in closer to hear, too.

"I do love Nathan."

Haley pulled away from her friends, her tearstained face determined.

"But he doesn't love me, not anymore. And even if he did, I can't trust him."

Brooke nodded. Yep, Lucas Scott had a job to do.

* * *

_Please review!_


	19. Chapter 19

_Thank you to deli41321, xSmile, krizue, lilmonkeygirl31, hybridwolf10 (who doesn't love Brooke and her schemes?), utterlylost1108, JeniRose (good question!), Duckygirl, and Lorilozz, for reviewing._

_Thanks also to Stymied for reviewing every chapter. If anyone was wondering, that's my sister, and she's finally given in to my pressure to read my story! It took a long time, and many reminders. But now that she has (finally), I'm going to add a new chapter, even though I wasn't really intending to post yet tonight._

_This chapter is mainly intended to provide insight into Nathan and Haley at this point in their relationship. Also you will get to see Faith and how she's doing._

_

* * *

_

Faith was really enjoying herself. Brooke was so funny! And Lucas was so nice. And Peyton was fun, and Jake knew a lot about little girls. And Jenny was fun to play with. She had lots of toys with her from home – apparently she lived in Los Angeles, like most of the others, except for Brooke.

In fact, Brooke had told Faith she was homeless, and Faith had been really worried. Weren't homeless people always alone, and sad, and dirty and sick?

But then Faith had seen Brooke's face, and realised she was joking. Apparently, Brooke just travelled around a lot so didn't have a house.

Despite all the fun time she was having with everyone, though, Faith was enjoying spending time with her parents most of all. They didn't seem to spend much time together, she didn't think, but they seemed to like being with her.

Faith was confused, though. Her brow wrinkled as she turned over in her bed. She was pretty certain her mommy and daddy didn't live together, but she couldn't understand why. Her other daddy had told her that mommies and daddies were always supposed to live together, and that it was wrong for them not to, and that those people would be punished.

Faith didn't want her nice new parents to be punished. Besides, she wanted to be with both of them.

Even as she was thinking this, Faith's mommy and daddy came into Faith's bedroom. Her mommy smiled at her and walked around the foot of the bed to sit at Faith's side as she lay there. Faith squeezed up a little and put her head on her mommy's lap. Her daddy sat on the other side, reaching out to stroke his daughter's hair. Faith smiled.

Her mommy and daddy smiled back, and then her mother's face smoothed, and she cleared her throat with a little cough.

"Now, Faith, we are going to go to Los Angeles, where mommy has an apartment, and we will live there. You will like it, baby. There's a garden on the roof, and a whole room just for you, and you can choose everything you want in it! And daddy lives in Los Angeles, too, so he will visit you lots!"

Faith frowned, slightly confused, as she moved restlessly in her mother's lap.

"But doesn't daddy live with us, mommy? Isn't he supposed to?"

Haley stopped.

"No, baby." She looked up at Nathan, standing beside the chair she and Faith were sitting in, silent. He knelt down so that he was on the same level as Faith, and turned her face to his with his large, but very gentle, hands.

"Faith, daddy loves you very much, but your mommy and I don't live together any more. So I won't be at the apartment with you, but I'll visit a lot, OK? And you can come to my house, too!"

Faith frowned. "With mommy?"

Nathan shrugged, uncertain. "Of course. If she wants to come."

Faith's frown deepened.

"No."

Haley was confused. "No, what, baby?"

Faith's voice was upset.

"No visiting. Want you and daddy to live together with me."

* * *

Haley was taken aback, as she stared at the small child whose head rested in her lap.

Her child.

Her child, demanding that her father – that Nathan – live with them.

She couldn't understand it. And she couldn't let it happen, either.

Living with Nathan? She had, once. And it had been perfect, for a while at least. And then there'd been music, and the betrayal, and she had known, then, that she could never live with Nathan again.

Even if she'd wanted to, she could never have lived with Nathan again.

But now, here lay her daughter, so damaged and alone and unsettled, and she wanted her father.

Haley wanted to give Faith what she wanted, but she wasn't certain she could survive this gift.

It wasn't even that she didn't trust Nathan to stay, or that she didn't approve of his influence on his child, or that she was afraid he'd try to steal her daughter from her. It wasn't any of these things, and yet it was all of them.

Most of all, Haley didn't want to live with Nathan because she knew that, despite it all, she still loved Nathan. She would always love Nathan, and no amount of time, or depth of betrayal, would change that. She had loved him since she was sixteen, and she had borne his child, and she had waited for him to realise the mistake he had made.

So, no, she could never take him back.

And she didn't want to live with him.

But she did love him.

And now, because of Faith, she'd have to put her determination to the test.

She would have to live with her husband.

For Faith.

* * *

Nathan was silent as he watched Haley process what their daughter had just demanded.

He knew that there was no way Haley would go along with it – and he didn't blame her – but still, it was a heady thought to know that, for a few seconds at least, she was considering the idea.

Nathan loved Haley. He had always loved Haley, ever since that moment, so many years earlier, that he'd looked at her and realised, as he stared into her laughing eyes, that she was everything he wanted in the world. Everything he needed. And that it would always be her, and nobody else, for the rest of his life.

Forever.

And yes, he'd lost the chance he had of being with her forever because of his lack of trust. But he'd never lost sight of that certainty, that sense of completion, that only came when he thought of her.

And even to know that she hadn't dismissed the idea of living with him out of hand meant something, if only to him. It meant that she didn't hate him, not anymore. Because even for Faith, Nathan couldn't believe that Haley would live with someone she hated.

* * *

Faith looked upward at both her parents, silenced by her demand. Her eyes wide, she looked so sweet and innocent and young that neither Nathan nor Haley would have believed the sudden insight that had burst into her mind.

Her mommy and her daddy loved each other.

Faith wasn't stupid. She knew her parents were completely against the demand that she had just made. She also knew that they'd probably give in, and that was why she'd demanded it. It was only right that her parents live together, and they were so guilty about what had happened to her that she knew they'd do anything to make her feel better. So why not use that guilt for the greater good?

And yes, initially her demand had just been about making certain that her parents were not punished for being bad. They didn't need to be punished – they didn't deserve to be punished. If anybody should be punished, it was Faith. She knew it.

But as soon as she had made that statement – _want you and daddy to live together with me_ – she had known that something else was happening. Maybe it had always been happening, and she had just noticed it. Maybe nobody else knew. But whatever it was, it was about her mommy, and her daddy, and the way they looked at each other.

There was something there. And Faith couldn't be certain – she was only six years old – but she thought it was love.

* * *

_So – please review._


	20. Chapter 20

_Thank you to MrsBNDO, krizue, kutebloo, 4everdreaming, JeniRose, lilmonkeygirl31, CCScott23, xSmile, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, hybridwolf10, utterlylost1108, Tiffany Rae, and deli41321 for reviewing. I really appreciate the comments._

_I'm glad everyone likes Faith. I keep thinking maybe I'm making her too clever – but she is a very smart child, and insightful, so maybe not. Plus, with her upbringing I can easily see her being more mature than other children her age._

_This chapter is sort of transitional. I didn't want the story to stay stuck in New York in limbo, so am trying to move them back to their natural habitats. Plus, that'll mean that soon Karen can come to visit, and I'll let you know what's happened to Deb (and maybe Dan)._

_Anyway – enjoy, and let me know what you think by reviewing!_

_

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Everything had seemed to go very fast. One moment, Faith had been living at home with her father, going to school and doing everything she was supposed to be doing, and then she had found out she'd been kidnapped years earlier and was actually the only child of celebrities, and now she was in Los Angeles, in her mother's luxury apartment, getting dressed for her first day at a new school.

Her daddy was even there – mommy had decided that he could live in the extra bedroom. It was blue. Faith thought that was kind of cool, actually!

Smoothing her hands across her pretty orange cardigan, and twitching her green ruffly skirt into place, Faith stared at herself in the mirror of her new bedroom.

She looked nice. Or, at least, as nice as she was going to look.

She really wanted people to like her. They didn't at her old school, but mommy had assured her that everything would be different here.

Breathing in, Faith reached for the backpack her mommy had helped her fill with books and pens and things the previous night, pushed her door open, and headed into the sun-filled kitchen. A bright apple green, with stainless steel appliances and benches, it was a pretty room, with warm wooden chairs and stained glass roses etched into the upper windows.

As she walked in, her parents turned to her. They had clearly been discussing something, but the animosity Faith sometimes sensed seemed entirely absent. They looked pleased to see her.

"Hey, Faith." Daddy smiled, and reached out his hand to draw her onto his lap. "Ready for school, I see!"

Faith nodded as she discarded her bag next to the chair, and reached for the cereal her daddy drew in front of her. Her mommy smiled, and picked up the backpack, placing it on the chair next to Faith. Retreating further into the kitchen a little, she retrieved a brown paper bag from the fridge.

"I made some lunch for you, baby. Let me know if you want something different tomorrow, though." Faith's mommy gave a sad little smile. "I haven't made one of these before, so it could be a little hit and miss."

Faith, her mouth full of cereal, nodded. Swallowing, she said. "What's in it today?"

Mommy frowned as she sat across from Faith and her daddy. "Ummm . . . a chicken salad sandwich, and an apple, and a pottle of yoghurt, and some raisins. Oh – and your daddy insisted that we also include a little chocolate. But you shouldn't expect that every day."

Faith smiled. "That sounds yummy, mommy."

Her mommy nodded, relief in her face. "Good, baby. I want your first day to be perfect."

Daddy chuckled.

"And, with that in mind, are you ready to go yet, Faith?"

Faith swivelled a little on her father's lap. "I only just got up! And I haven't finished my breakfast yet."

"Oh." Daddy seemed surprised. "Silly me. I could've sworn that you actually _wanted _to get to school on time for your first day."

Shocked, Faith turned to her mother. "Am I going to be late?"

Her mommy shook her head, smiling. "You have plenty of time, baby. No need to rush. Your father's just being funny." She directed a playful glare at him from across the table.

Faith resumed eating her cereal. A comfortable silence filled the room.

Putting her spoon in the bowl, reaching for her juice, and draining the glass, Faith turned to her daddy.

"I'm finished now," she announced.

"So I see," daddy's eyebrows wriggled comically, and Faith giggled. "So, are we ready to go?"

Faith nodded her head emphatically, and jumped down from her perch on daddy's lap.

"I'm ready. Can we go, then?"

Daddy groaned and stood, slowly, frowning at Faith. Faith became a little uncertain. Daddy seemed upset. And then he smiled.

"We're going to miss you when you're at school today, Faith. Will you be good?"

Smiling again, Faith nodded.

"Yes, Daddy."

Reaching for her hand, her daddy grabbed Faith's backpack from the chair it had been deposited on, and slung it over his shoulder. Meanwhile, her mommy also stood, clearing away Faith's cereal bowl and juice glass and stacking them in the dishwasher. When she finished, she rushed toward the other two, and reached for Faith's other hand.

"We'll both come with you, baby. It's your first day!"

The car ride there was silent, but Faith would've been unable to speak anyway. It was so exciting. New parents, and a new school, and hopefully soon there'd be new friends, too.

And it was a pretty school, Faith decided, as her daddy's car swung in through the main gates. The buildings were brick, and pretty, and there were plants and a cool looking playground. Luckily it wasn't very busy – mommy and daddy had arranged to come a little after school was due to start – so there was no trouble parking in the visitor parking spaces.

As she emerged from the car, and daddy shepherded her, his hand on her shoulder, toward the administration office, while her mommy carried her backpack, Faith couldn't help but feel a little nervous. It was a few months into the year, and almost Christmas now, and maybe the other boys and girls wouldn't like her because she was new. Faith frowned, not noticing her mommy dart a concerned look down at her as she did so.

Crouching down next to her as they reached the door to the office, mommy smiled at Faith. "Don't worry, baby. Today will be a good day." She seemed so certain, as if there was no other possibility but that today would be wonderful.

Faith trusted mommy.

So she smiled, and lunged forward, enfolding mommy in her thin arms.

* * *

Haley gasped as her daughter initiated her very first hug since they had recovered her. Her eyes filled with tears as she hugged her daughter right back, and looked up, her vision slightly blurred.

Nathan was staring down at the two of them, a hesitant look in his eyes. He stepped forward, a little.

Haley smiled at him.

He smiled back, and crouched down with his wife and daughter, and joined in on the hug.

They all huddled there, slightly awkwardly, as Faith calmed down and gained the courage to face her first day of school in L.A. And then she started to wriggle, and her parents started to laugh, and stood.

It was time to get their baby to class.

And as she signed Faith in, and talked a little about the logistics of Faith's situation with the principal while Nathan distracted their daughter, and as they were led to the first grade class where a plump, smiling, forty-ish woman pulled Faith off to participate in the class's art project, Haley started to fantasise.

She started to fantasise that this really was her life. That Nathan really was her husband. That there were no complications, no strangeness. That the domesticity and togetherness of that morning were typical, were normal.

She wondered if Nathan felt the same.

* * *

_Please review._


	21. Chapter 21

_Oh my god – I feel horrible. It's been close to six months since I've updated this, and it's not as if I haven't had this chapter ready for pretty much all of that time. I apologise, and will try to start getting back into posting._

_I finally wanted people to get a little bit back to real life now, so I'm starting with Nathan. He's been away from his team for a while, so it's time to get back._

_Please forgive me any errors in basketball terminology etc in this chapter. I am not a follower of any kind of sport, and although I did some research into this to try to get everything straight, I would by no means guarantee that I have managed to do so._

_This is actually a pretty cool chapter, so I hope it makes up in some small way for my laxness in posting._

* * *

Nathan's expression was impassive as he waved to the security guard wandering the halls of the Staples Centre, finding his way to his first practice in three weeks. He felt someone approaching him, and turned, grunting at Lucas as his half-brother fell into step with him.

He was not looking forward to today.

Lucas finally spoke.

"You realise that Brooke is really bugging me about you and Haley, right?"

The question had to be rhetorical. Nathan directed a quizzical look at his older brother, who laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose it would be obvious. But, really, Nate, you guys need to talk – about Faith, and about the two of you. Brooke's got this idea – you know Brooke – that there's this whole doomed love story playing out right in front of her eyes, and that if she doesn't force you both to talk about it now, you'll wither away or something."

Nathan grunted. _Uh huh._

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, man, I realise you don't want to talk about it –"

_You think?_

"- but she's pushy, Brooke. And she's here for the long haul, now that Faith's back, not to mention she's hanging out a lot with my mom. So, at least think about it, ok?"

Nathan remained silent, but gave a small shrug as Lucas directed a piercing stare at him.

They came to the door of the locker room, and Nathan locked gazes with Lucas.

Nathan spoke for the first time since he got to the stadium.

"Well, here goes nothing."

* * *

Haley was nervous about what was going to happen that night.

She was taking Faith to a basketball game. More specifically, to a basketball game in which Faith's father and uncle was playing, within a week of tabloid rumours about her own fidelity and within a month of her daughter being recovered from being kidnapped, basically by her own grandfather.

It could be a little awkward. Still, Faith had wanted to go, and Nate had convinced Haley that she would actually need a bodyguard – possibly two – and Brooke and Peyton and Jake were coming with them. So she was sure it should be fine.

She convinced herself that she was right as she grabbed the denim jacket that went well with her cream jersey and brown pants, sighed, and snatched up her purse on the way out the door.

Faith was waiting. She looked happy, and impatient, and very pretty, in her yellow outfit with the pretty ruffly skirt and pink flower details. Her auburn hair was in pigtails, with little butterfly clips in pink and yellow scattered for artistic effect.

She looked perfect, and for a second Haley found it difficult to breathe.

Smiling at her daughter, Haley calmed herself, and spoke.

"You look very pretty, Faith. Are you ready?"

Faith nodded emphatically. "Yes! And daddy and Uncle Lucas said that we had to be there on time so that we could cheer properly for them the whole game. We're going to be late, mommy! Have to go now!"

Haley couldn't help but smirk at her daughter's concern.

"Okay then, baby. Let's go."

Filing into the crowded stadium about forty minutes later, Haley still felt nervous, but was at least comfortable bulwarked by Brooke – chattering away – and Peyton and Jake nodding along. Holding on to her daughter's hand tightly, Haley was also thankful – although she would never admit it to Nathan – for the large bodies firmly stationed in front of and behind their little group. She could still feel eyes on her, but at least Faith was safe.

The group made their way to the VIP seats set aside for them by Nathan and Lucas, and sat. In front of them, the team was warming up, and Lucas, who'd obviously been keeping an eye out for them, waved and smiled, jogging over to Nathan, shooting baskets at the other end of the court, and clapping him on the back.

Nathan turned, and his eyes locked with Haley's. His expression was impassive, and she smiled uncertainly at him. He nodded back, and his gaze shifted to Faith. Haley could see the visible softening as he smiled at his daughter, and she grinned back, and gave a little wave.

Just at that moment, the coach called out to the guys, and Lucas and Nathan jogged over to join the rest of the team in a huddle.

On the court, Nathan could barely believe that his wife and his daughter had really come. He'd known that Haley intended to bring Faith to his game – his first since his return to L.A. – but had been almost positive that she'd back out at the last minute. He'd done everything possible to prevent that possibility – asking Jake and Brooke and Peyton to keep an eye on her, arranging for bodyguards – but in the end, it was Haley who had to decide whether to face the world.

She'd been avoiding things since the pictures had come out. She'd made no statements, issued no denials, and had refused to allow Nathan to do so.

People really believed that Haley had cheated on him.

His team-mates had been sympathetic – about the kidnapping and marriage break-up – but he could see that they thought that Haley had been at fault. It was a huge change. Everybody who knew him, and knew Haley, had always known that he was the one to mess up, that he was the one to break up the marriage.

And he'd let them think that, because he didn't want to ruin Haley's life, even though he'd thought she'd ruined his.

Of course, then he had discovered the truth, and realised that it had been his fault, for not believing in her, and that his secret heroism had really almost been cowardice. Sure, he hadn't told anyone about her betrayal because he hadn't wanted her to be hated. And maybe that had been his central reason, but there'd been another: he hadn't told anyone because it would have meant admitting that she'd cheated on him. That he wasn't enough for her.

Nathan wouldn't have ever wanted anyone to know that. Hatred was better than pity.

And, as it had turned out, he'd deserved the hatred, the anger, the disappointment. Because Haley hadn't cheated on him, he'd just believed that she had.

So seeing her now, after so many years, and so much pain, was unreal to Nathan. He'd imagined seeing her at so many games, over so many years, that knowing she was actually there – and with their daughter – didn't seem possible.

He had to confirm it for himself.

So, breaking away from the last minute team discussion, Nathan shot a pleading look at Lucas. Shocked at first, his brother sighed and rolled his eyes, drawing their coach's attention.

"Lucas Scott! Are you daydreaming –"

Nathan turned away from his coach, and from the game, due to start in mere seconds. The coach, haranguing Lucas, was diverted, and only noticed Nathan's actions when the crowd started roaring, and Lucas grinned at him unrepentantly. Turning to see what had caught the crowd's attention, the coach saw what everyone else in the crowd was seeing.

Nathan Scott, heedless of all else, jogging up into the stands to where his newly claimed wife and long lost daughter were sitting. Haley James, lately vilified by a press unconcerned with truth or fact, and whose only interest was selling a story, perching there, blushing. Nate, tall and strong in the Lakers uniform he had worked so hard to attain, approaching, ignoring all around him.

Nathan couldn't hear the noise.

All he could see was Faith. And Haley. His family.

And so he did what he needed to do. What he had ached to do for years.

Weaving through the crowd, past the bodyguards and their friends, Nathan stopped stock still in front of Haley. All he could see was her face, and it was as if nothing around them existed. It was silent: his world in a vacuum. Laying his hand on Faith's head, drawing her small body into his leg, he reached out with his other hand, and caught Haley around the waist. He drew her body, unresisting, towards him, sliding his arm around her waist to draw her close. Breathing in the scent of her hair – vanilla – his eyes closed for a second. And then he removed his arm from her waist and cupped her chin with his hand. As their mouths neared, his eyes remained open, staring directly into hers as their breath mingled, their breathing thickened and, as if by compulsion, their lips met.

It had been six and a half years, but Haley's kiss still felt like home to him.

* * *

Please comment. And feel free to harangue me about how late this is.


	22. Chapter 22

_Thank you to NaleYLuV01, JeniRose, xSmile, Duckygirl, naleyluv, SnowWhite213, krizue, bellasmomma, every1luvsme24, love2beME, ransom note, luvnaley23, La Filme Michelle, for reviewing. I'm especially thankful to those of you I recognise from before – again, I'm sorry to have taken so long to update before._

_I am having a bit of difficulty getting back into this story, so you shouldn't expect the 3 or so weekly updates I used to make when I was writing this first last year, but I will do my best. At the moment I'm slightly stuck on where I want this story to go, and how to get there, but I will decide shortly: have several ideas, just need to draw them together. Hopefully then I'll be able to speed up with posting. In the meantime, rest assured that I have every intention of finishing, and will be updating when I have material to update._

_SnowWhite 213 – thanks for the long review, and don't worry about Faith. I wouldn't make her so screwed up without the intention of fixing her. It's the how that's evading me at the moment, but it will happen._

_ransom note – I hope your appointment wasn't too important! I'm glad you're enjoying the story._

_Enjoy the chapter._

_

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_

Deb was numb as she sat in her car outside the house she had shared with Dan, on and off, for the last fifteen years. She had finally done what she should have done so many years ago, and now she was alone. She had known that it was going to happen, but still.

There had always been a possibility that Nathan would understand.

That he'd realise she'd only done what she needed to do.

And, after all, she hadn't really had any good reason to believe that Dan was responsible for Faith's kidnapping. It had been more of a theory. He'd certainly never said anything. And, after all, he'd been investigated before: surely it hadn't been her responsibility to provide a motive for the possibility that her husband might have been involved in the commission of a crime? Wasn't that up to the police? Weren't they the ones who were supposed to build up cases and check out the facts and the background?

She hadn't really _known _anything. Except that Dan had been _happy_. Extremely, and obviously happy, for a good two or three weeks after the kidnapping. And later, she'd discovered that his father had changed his will when Faith had been born, moving what Dan saw as his rightful inheritance from him to his grand-daughter. Royal had done so knowing it would infuriate Dan, but had been trying to make a point about what he saw as his son's abysmal parenting. Apparently he'd considered Nathan first, but had decided that he was following too closely in Dan's footsteps.

She had thought maybe that didn't mean anything – by the time she discovered it, fourteen months had passed and Faith was long gone. And nobody had found any other connection between Dan and Faith's disappearance – so really, it hadn't been her fault. She had guessed maybe he might know something, but had had no idea exactly how much. And, after all, anybody who knew Dan could've guessed that he might be involved.

She fully believed that the main reason the F.B.I. had taken her seriously was not because of the strength of her argument, anyway, but because she had been – and still was – his wife. If she believed that he might be involved, and could come up with some kind of motive to back it up, then of course her allegations had to be considered.

Closing her eyes, Deb breathed deeply, and reached out with trembling hands to flick on the radio. She needed to stay out just a little while longer. And while she was there, she needed to drown her thoughts.

There was an initial static before the radio tuned in. ". . .crowd went wild!"

Deb gave a muffled laugh as she opened her eyes. The radio, of course, was tuned to the local sports station, so that she could hear about how Nathan was doing – he never told her himself anymore, after all.

Her hand on the dial, Deb was about to switch to something else – easy listening, maybe, or a classic rock station if she could find a good one – when her movement was arrested by a comment made by the loud, jocular voice emitting from the speakers.

". . . Haley James! It's not often you see something like that at a basketball game!"

"No, Ken, you're right about that! Almost overshadowed the actual play, even for a sports nut like me."

"And it's not often that that happens for me, either, Josh! But I suppose it's been such a huge story, and we're all wondering what'll happen next. It's clear that Scott wasn't concerned about the tabloid theory of infidelity, though."

"They were tabloid pictures, of course. Maybe Scott was making a statement? "The past is in the past"? Or "They were fakes, let it go"? Chris Keller's certainly denied the romantic involvement."

"Well – one thing they can't deny now is that there's definitely still something there between Haley James and Nathan Scott."

"Not after that pre-game make-out session, anyway!" Josh laughed. "But really, who wouldn't want to make out with Haley James? No wonder the game was so superb!"

"Very true, Josh!"

And as the commentators moved on to discuss, play by play, how the game went down – and how Deb's son, fresh from a public declaration of his feelings for Haley, played what was probably the best game of his career – Deb listened.

Smiling.

Maybe things wouldn't work out for her, but Nate was doing well. That was what she had wanted, after all.

* * *

At Los Angeles International Airport, the bustle and noise of thousands of people could not drown out the importance of the moment for Keith and Karen Scott, as they arrived in the city on a visit to a long-lost relative: their great-niece, newly recovered from a very high-profile kidnap experience.

Faith Scott had always been important to them, her loss a blow that had been timed to match their discovery that they themselves were unlikely to ever have children together. And it seemed, now, that miracles came together, for Faith was back and, not a week ago, they had discovered that they would soon be parents.

This visit would serve a dual purpose, allowing them both to visit Faith, and to tell their family – real and chosen – about their news.

Right now, as he surveyed the worn black conveyor belt from which his and his wife's luggage was shortly due to be available, Keith Scott felt elation wash over him. This was his moment as well as Nathan and Haley's. His and Karen's. It was as if the bad luck that had been dogging the family ever since Haley and Nathan's acrimonious split was finally starting to lift. Faith was back. Haley and Nathan were (according to Lucas, at least) beginning to get along. Lucas and Brooke, while not back together, had apparently been "hanging out" a lot since Faith's return (Keith wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly what that term implied). Karen was finally pregnant. And Dan was in jail.

All in all, things were looking up for the Scotts. Or at least, for those Scotts that Keith still considered family. The only exception was Deb, who hadn't looked particularly happy the last time he'd seen her, when she'd picked up the new alarm code for Karen's Café. However, with that single exception, all those Keith considered truly important to him were happy, or at least exponentially more happy than they had been less than a month ago.

As Keith leaned forward to reach for a large black suitcase, and a green one directly after it, he glanced at his wife, who, much like him, appeared lost in thought.

He just hoped she wasn't thinking about the weird and almost incestuous convoluted relationships that would emerge very starkly when their child was born. Keith had considered it once, and decided that trying to work out the tangle wasn't worth the headache. Apparently, Nathan and the baby would be cousins, and the baby and Faith first cousins once removed. But there the simplicity was lost. Because the baby would be Lucas's cousin and half brother: Keith was pretty certain that was illegal. Plus, although he was pretty certain no real additional relationship existed between Nate and Keith's newly conceived child, it would be a bit weird that his cousin was younger than his daughter, not to mention that his cousin was a half sibling to his own half sibling.

Keith deliberately stopped considering this issue further. This was how the headache had started, and he wasn't a masochist.

Pulling the second case onto the trolley, Keith turned to Karen, his hand moving to her lower back, rubbing it gently. Karen moved into the touch, and smiled at her husband.

"Worried?"

Karen looked at her husband thoughtfully as her hand drifted, in an unconsciously protective gesture, to her abdomen. "No. I don't think so. I'm just excited about our news, and looking forward to seeing Faith and Haley."

"And Nathan?" Keith prompted.

Karen rolled her eyes. "And Nathan. But –"

As she was about to continue, Karen noticed her husband's sudden distraction, and frowned. "What are you looking at?"

Keith, his eyes still fixed above Karen's shoulder, started to smile, and Karen whirled around to see a small television tuned to a sports channel. At first, she wasn't certain what she was seeing, and then she knew.

It was Nathan, in his Lakers uniform, striding up the stairs in a crowded stadium, leaving the court behind him.

Haley, standing in the stands with a small, auburn haired girl by her side.

And complete pandemonium as they met, drawn together as if by some magnetic force stronger than either of them.

* * *

Faith sat down in the wake of the frenzy, as her father jogged back to the court, ready to start the game. Her face felt strained, and she realised that she was smiling so hard that it was starting to hurt.

She had known that this was going to happen. She had been looking forward to it.

Faith had seen the expressions on her parents' faces as they drew apart. That moment when they realised what they had done, and where, and that they didn't care. That moment when they realised that just being together meant more than anything. That moment when they realised that they'd never stopped loving each other.

And that they never would.

Now, all she had to do was make certain they didn't forget how that kiss, that moment, had felt.

* * *

_Please review. Next chapter will be largely internal dialogue, I'm thinking, so it may be interesting to see Nathan and Haley's thoughts after this monumental occasion._


	23. Chapter 23

_Thank you to JamesLover23, SnowWhite213, naleyluv, hybridwolf10, xSmile, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, utterlylost1108, tardychick, elosie09, luvnaley23._

_This is a really short chapter, and for that I really do apologise. However, I hope at least that you find it reasonably interesting – I definitely do. If it makes you feel better, I have brainstormed with my sister a way to resolve the hole I'd dug for Nathan and Haley, so hopefully will soon be able to write some good new material. _

_

* * *

_

Nathan's movements were graceful. Fluid. Faultless. Almost mechanically, he scored goal after goal as the crowd roared and his team shot ahead on the scoreboard.

Yes, this night, Nathan Scott could do nothing wrong.

The fact that he was operating in some kind of fog, automated and unaware, was not at all evident to the screaming hordes of excited fans cheering his every move.

It was the best game of his career so far.

And he remembered nothing of it. Everything was blurred, and hazy, and all he could see was Haley's face, and all he could feel was the touch of her lips on his, and all he could smell was the sweetness of her breath.

Haley.

Maybe he had a chance.

* * *

Haley, still bright red with mortification half an hour later, was also supremely unaware of her surroundings. As she stared at the court, her eye movement involuntarily following the movement of the game (and, coincidentally, that of her husband, who was at the very centre of virtually every play).

Faith, sitting next to her, was oddly silent, even though Haley could feel the excited energy radiating off her. She was still smiling, though – it seemed as if Faith was unable to stop.

Haley could imagine the coverage this was going to get in the media the following day. For all she knew, it had already started. And yet it was so difficult to even think about the ramifications of the events of that evening.

All she could think about was what had actually happened.

And how it had felt.

To be so close to Nathan, after so long apart, and knowing that it was wrong, had been one of the most horrific moments of Haley's life.

Because all she had been able to think about was how much she had trusted him six years ago. And how much he had betrayed that trust.

Or, at least, that is how that kiss had started out. But it hadn't lasted. Because Haley knew that at least some of what had happened had been her fault. Yes, she had been faithful, and truthful, and had had her heart broken as a result – but, after all, Nathan's heart had been broken too. And it had been his father's fault. Dan's fault, and the fault of jealousy and insecurity that Haley couldn't help wondering whether she might have engendered in her husband.

Sure, so she'd been nothing other than faithful and truthful. But she hadn't always told the whole truth. About how it'd felt, up there, in front of a crowd of screaming fans. About how much she'd loved it even though she had left him behind.

She definitely hadn't told him that she knew Chris was in love with her. That had maybe been the problem. She couldn't have told Nathan, because then she'd have felt obligated to come home when he asked, and she didn't want to leave the tour. So she'd denied it to him, even though she'd known it was the truth. Because it hadn't mattered.

Not to her. Not when she'd had Nathan.

And never since.

Chris was her friend, and her colleague, and in her own way, Haley loved him now. But she hadn't then, and she'd known that because of that he would never be a threat to what she and Nathan shared.

But Nathan wouldn't have believed that.

And, in the end, denying the truth and trusting to love had meant that Chris had become a problem by default.

So, she had denied the truth of Chris's love, and her own heart, and Nathan's, had broken because of the fissures caused by that simple denial.

Maybe Haley really had chosen the music over Nathan. She'd never intended to do so, but it was how it had all turned out, after all.

And that kiss . . .

After the first angry second or two, Haley had remembered how it had used to feel.

How safe she'd felt with Nathan.

How loved.

How much she'd always been able to see forever when she was with him.

And now, as she sat there, the bright blush still staining her cheeks, she could still taste him. Still feel his lips on hers, as gentle as they'd always been.

As perfect as they'd always been.

* * *

For all that it was the first of her father's games that Faith had ever been to, she had great difficulty on actually focusing on it.

Her father had kissed her mother.

Faith had never seen real grown-ups kiss, except on television (and, as she hadn't been allowed to watch that unsupervised, rarely even then). But she knew what it meant, and that it was good.

Mommy and daddy had talked with Faith about living together, and while they had agreed to do so, they explained that it was only temporary, while Faith was getting settled. Apparently they didn't think there was anything wrong with parents living separately, although they had said that it was better if they were able to live together.

Faith had decided to trust them about that. They definitely seemed more trustworthy than her father ever had, anyway. He always used to avoid answering her questions.

But now, even though she knew that it wasn't _wrong _that her parents would be living apart again when they knew she was properly settled, she still wanted them to live together.

They seemed sad when they were apart, sometimes.

Of course, they seemed sad when they were together, too. But they also seemed more alive. It was as if there was some kind of energy in the air.

Faith believed that amazing things could happen when her parents were together.

They had found her, after all.

* * *

_Please review._

_Next chapter: Faith and her uncle Luke and great-uncle Keith. What do you think can happen when three generations of Scotts actually work together? Me – I'm scared._

_Especially with Brooke added into the line-up._


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